Finally the garbage strike that stank up Toronto for 36 days this summer is over. The outdoor hockey rinks that discovered a secondary purpose during the strike can regain their dignity. During the strike, city pools shut down and summer camps closed, but now current union members can rest easy knowing they still have bankable sick days. In Ottawa this past winter, the bus drivers went on strike during the coldest time of the year. People bicycled in the cold and snow, or hitched or created carpools, but now the bus drivers can rest easy knowing they retain some control over scheduling. Screw the citizens, save my benefits. Welcome to Canada.
It pains me to write those last sentences. I’ve been a union-loving lefty for a long time. I was ashamed when Reagan smashed the Air Traffic Controllers union in the early 80’s. And I’m glad Canada has a stronger union environment than the U.S. where unions never fully recovered from Reaganism. Prior to the recent global meltdown, unions in Canada grew, according to Stats Canada, by 19% between ’97 and ’07, the largest growth since the ‘70’s. That’s nothing to sneeze at. Unions are far healthier here—and accepted—than south of the border.
What is to sneeze at, however, (and what turns my crank) is being out in the cold with no buses running in the height of winter, or having to breath in the stink of garbage in the height of summer. Helloooo? Detect a pattern here? Public unions know when to strike, and they express exactly no remorse about it. Zilcho. What, me sorry? For what? As to the outrage expressed by citizens about the timing of the strikes? It’s as deafening as the remorse expressed by the union membership. In Ottawa it just so happens that most folks are in unions in the federal government, so they can’t exactly bitch when their cheeks get frostbite bicycling to work because of a municipal strike. The hand that feedeth also taketh away, depending on which union you’re in.
It pains me to write those last sentences. I’ve been a union-loving lefty for a long time. I was ashamed when Reagan smashed the Air Traffic Controllers union in the early 80’s. And I’m glad Canada has a stronger union environment than the U.S. where unions never fully recovered from Reaganism. Prior to the recent global meltdown, unions in Canada grew, according to Stats Canada, by 19% between ’97 and ’07, the largest growth since the ‘70’s. That’s nothing to sneeze at. Unions are far healthier here—and accepted—than south of the border.
What is to sneeze at, however, (and what turns my crank) is being out in the cold with no buses running in the height of winter, or having to breath in the stink of garbage in the height of summer. Helloooo? Detect a pattern here? Public unions know when to strike, and they express exactly no remorse about it. Zilcho. What, me sorry? For what? As to the outrage expressed by citizens about the timing of the strikes? It’s as deafening as the remorse expressed by the union membership. In Ottawa it just so happens that most folks are in unions in the federal government, so they can’t exactly bitch when their cheeks get frostbite bicycling to work because of a municipal strike. The hand that feedeth also taketh away, depending on which union you’re in.
Active unions, mild-mannered Canadians. Thank God I’m not in France... or this rant could go on forever.
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