Strike Out

May 29, 2006 - A wildcat strike shut down the TTC today and like thousands of Toronto commuters, I was caught off-guard and didn't even know about the strike until I woke up this morning. I ended up walking to work (from Yonge & Eglinton to Yonge & College) - the journey took a little over 1.5 hours, but with today being one of the hottest days of the year so far, the walk was pretty brutal. Coming home, I had to spend 10 bucks for a cab - 10 bucks that could have been used elsewhere (i.e. a really nice meal).

Now I'm not entirely sure why the strike happened. The media has reported it was due to a number of issues: the safety of front line workers; the fact that some cleaners were going to be moved to night shifts. No matter what the issues are behind the strike, one thing that's for sure: the strike was illegal and it was wrong.

Usually I have deep sympathy for TTC operators. While some of them are indeed rude and not very helpful, the majority of them are actually fairly nice (the 94 Wellesley bus drivers are the nicest I've found). I completely understand that labour relations have been strained lately, but if the TTC Union really wants the public to understand their issues, having a wildcat strike is NOT the way to do it. The Union held the city hostage by their action - and commuters, the ones that support public transit in the first place, became the losers. Instead of sympathizing with the Union (and the operators), we now feel cheated and betrayed.

Who knows how much money the City lost because of this one day strike. The City (and anyone who lost wages, missed school and appointments) should sue the Union for every lost dollar. This will then tell the Union that we will not put up with illegal unlawful strikes by workers of an essential city service!