TTC Illegal Wildcat Strike - May 30 2006

[spmarshall]

I just looked over the ad again, and I still can't bloody believe the nerve of this union!

Moscoe was quoted as saying the story, from 2003, was exaggerated by the union - the amount of money the driver was not paid for was only 10 days, not the months as it was claimed, and those 10 days are still being decided at the WSIB. Of course it goes without saying that this issue of drivers had nothing to do with the illegal strike.

I noticed that we've been hearing and seeing a lot more of Adam Giambrone than Moscoe lately. I think Moscoe should be shown the door too, as Giambrone and Joe Mihevc, both on the Commission are far better poltical representatives.

 

[EnviroTO]

Even automated subways need employees, or else its unsafe.

I don't agree. The technology is here now that can make it perfectly safe. There was a time where elevator operators were necessary and now they aren't despite the fact that elevator cars are dangling from wires over a void which can be up to 100 storeys high and move much quicker than they did before. Subway drivers can easily be replaced with technology and if that is too scary for you a fraction of the people can monitor the system from a central control area with monitors and big red buttons. There are plenty of driverless transportation systems out there. I think computers have evolved to the point they can handle simple go and stop or close door and open door instructions. I'm not talking about buses or something that requires steering.

 

[nassauone]

I think the skytrain in vancouver is automated. Seems pretty safe to me - 'cept for the dealers and the muggers and the gangsters and the junkies

 

[ganjavih]

Holding us hostage: Eye Weekly

 

[cdl42]

Realistically, unstaffed trains on a system the size and volume of Toronto's would be highly unlikely. Volume at each station varies during the day, and at very least you would want a staff member to be responsible for closing the doors in an efficient manner. One of the two main limitations on the maximum frequency you can operate on a line is station dwell time. Automatic systems inevitably sit at stations longer because there's no human eyes and intuitation to close the doors and get the train moving the moment everyone is on.

Completely automatic networks, like Vancouver's, are rare and normally used in more local applications; such as theme park monorails.

 

[cdl42]

Bravo to that Eye piece. Attitudes certainly need to change at the TTC union.

 

[billonlogan]

more bad news for TTC...

10 hurt in subway mishap

Toronto Star
Jun. 1, 2006. 01:11 PM

The Dupont subway station was evacuated and ten people were treated for smoke inhalation this morning after a mechanical problem aboard a subway car.
At about 9:30 a.m., passengers aboard the train approaching the station on the University-Spadina line reported hearing a loud popping sound, or a minor explosion.

A metal plate under the subway car had become dislodged, hitting the third-rail power, causing a spark and small blast.

The subway car and station became filled with smoke. Passengers had to evacuate the subway car.

Dupont station was shut down for about an hour while emergency officials investigated the scene.

Gary Webster, the TTC's general manager of operations, said at a news conference this morning that the TTC will evaluate the metal plate that came off.

The plate is two feet by three feet, he said.

"We don't know if it was a design issue or whether maintenance crews didn't properly install the cover," Webster said, adding that the TTC will try to determine when the cover was last inspected.

Somehow the hinges or clips on the cover came loose, he said.

The incident happened on the lead car in a southbound, six-car train that was entering the station.

Fire officials reported "light smoke" in the tunnel and on the platform.

The five passengers who inhaled the smoke were taken to hospital for observation. Five others were treated at the scene and released.

"This has never happened before," said Marilyn Bolton, TTC spokesperson, acknowledging that "it must have been frightening for people" inside the subway car.

However, she said the situation was not as bad as it might have appeared. "But we take all smoke issues seriously," she said.

Webster ruled out sabotage, saying this incident "had no relationship whatsoever" to the TTC's wildcat strike this week.

"The real issue is the cover and why did it come off," Webster said.

Since the accident happened after rush hour, the station was not full. Still, up to 300 people had to be evacuated.

Subway service from St. George to St. Clair W. stations was cut.

The subway car was purchased from Bombardier for $2 million five years ago. It has been removed from service while an investigation is undertaken.

The TTC's Bolton noted that the "law of averages" dictates that there will be breakdowns from time to time in the system's 2,500-vehicle fleet.

 

[spmarshall]

There's a thread for that already in Transportation Issues.

p083.ezboard.com/ftoronto...2178.topic

I'll also praise that Eye editorial. It really is clear that many TTC employees, and the union especially, live outside of reality. Just read that letter I posted above by Mr. Kowbell, who thought that the illegal strike was just and noble, and too bad to those who suffered in the good fight.

 

[billonlogan]

I wasn't at all surprised that Kinnear pulled such a brazen maneuver. Miller and TTC Commissioners set the stage for this kind of illegal walkout from the moment they came to power when they took any threats of contracting out off the table. I feel no sympathy for the TTC janitors making $23 an hour who've been reassigned to the night shift. They should be happy to have them. But this is what happens when unions feel they're in control. The mayor is finding out that appeasement does not pay ... that firmness and holding people accountable in the end wins the day. The appeasement we've seen makes the union all that more bold in its aggressiveness. I'll wager a small bet the TTC won't see one single cent, let alone $840,000, out of the union brethren who brought this city to a standstill during Monday's wildcat walkout.

 

[spmarshall]

Too bad no one got around to post this yet. John Barber tells it like it is more often than not.

Union boss has something to learn about picking his fights
(Wednesday, May 31, 2006)

JOHN BARBER

Let's hope Bob Kinnear got his testosterone fix. There was no other reason to justify what the transit union leader did yesterday -- leading a clearly illegal strike that crippled the entire city over a minor quarrel about which TTC janitors should clean washrooms at nights.

If it weren't so massively inconvenient for so many working people -- drivers and would-be riders alike -- yesterday's strike would have been a farce. A Marx Brothers work action, beginning with union leaders and lawyers playing "catch-me-if-you-can" with TTC lawyers before dawn and ending with Mr. Kinnear's solemn declaration that he had no hand in orchestrating the day's activity.

Aspiring to the tough-guy role once played by former police union boss Craig Bromell -- sporting the same groovy shades, fashionable stubble and heavily gelled hair -- he ended up playing the clown.

What was funniest? Was it the bizarre chase on which Mr. Kinnear and his team led the media after the second labour board hearing -- down the back stairs, out the fire door, around the block, back in the front door and up the elevator to the beginning again? Or was it Mr. Kinnear's declaration of solidarity with the put-upon working people whose lives he had knocked for a loop for no apparent reason?

I nominate the union's submission to the second hearing as the funniest event of a sad day. The reason union leaders ignored the back-to-work ruling, lawyer Heather Alden argued, is that they didn't get proper notice of the early-morning hearing that produced it. TTC lawyer Michael Kennedy countered that when he contacted union executive Paul McLaughlin to give him notice, Mr. McLaughlin said, "You're going to have to catch me if you want to serve me."

Then there was the heartbreaking tale about a few dozen janitors who had to go back to cleaning toilets because of new shift rules. On this thin ledge the union built its ridiculous case that the TTC had staged an "illegal lockout."

In upholding his boss's original order that the strikers get back to work "immediately," labour board vice-chair Brian McLean noted that the strike was clearly illegal. "That fact is clear from the materials before me, even based on those filed by the union."

In other words, there was never even a semblance of a case to justify the walkout. That would help explain why the union's story kept changing by the hour.

Many strikers thought they were protesting against unsafe working conditions for drivers. Completely ignoring that issue at the labour board, the union argued there that the strike was all about maintenance shifts. An hour later, Mr. Kinnear angrily insisted the strike was "absolutely not about that." Instead, he said, it was about all sorts of other alleged (though unexplained) violations of the collective agreement.

But the best of all the often contradictory reasons the 36-year-old union president gave for the labour strife was that TTC general manager Rick Ducharme lives in Aurora while he, Bob Kinnear, does not.

"I will go home tonight and I will face my neighbours -- unlike Rick Ducharme," he said. "That's why he continues to make the decisions he does."

Good grief.

There is still reason to be concerned about Mr. Kinnear's warning that labour relations at the TTC are at an all-time low, and that they stand to get even worse. Although it is difficult to tell whether that is the result of legitimate grievances or Mr. Kinnear's own lack of credibility, yesterday's tragicomic mini-strike strongly implicates the latter cause.

That showed up during contract negotiations last year, when Mr. Kinnear threatened to take his workers out on strike for reasons, according to management, that he had never raised at the contract table. In the end, he accepted a so-so contract supported by only 60 per cent of workers. Now he is playing the tough-guy role again.

But real tough guys, including Mr. Bromell and Brian Cochrane, president of the union representing 6,000 city workers, don't do it that way. They rarely pick fights they can't win, and they never let themselves look ridiculous.

 

[crackpott]

I was told by a former boss of mine months ago who became a TTC operator that their next strike, instead of what actually happened, would involve normal operations, while not collecting fares. He said in that way the public isn't hurt, but they're still causing a disruptance to the TTC which would force negotiations. Frankly if they must strike, this seemed like a much better plan to me...

 

[spmarshall]

TTC Union on Illegal Wildcat Strike, the sequel?

Just heard about this from Transit-Toronto. Given the shock last Monday's strike caused, I wouldn't rule this out.

From CP24 (who gave the first indication of a strike possible last Sunday):

Striking Back?

Exactly one week after a wildcat strike caused Monday T.T.C. closures and wreaked havoc on Toronto’s streets, residents of the city who ride The Rocket as well as those that drive it could be preparing for exactly the same thing.

“You just hear a lot of talk going around,†said streetcar driver Faye Budree.

“There could be something happening tomorrow again, that’s all I want to say.â€

The previous week’s one-day strike shut down all the transit systems throughout the Greater Toronto Area, leaving thousands of would-be passengers stranded and many of them equally furious.

The issue stems in part from T.T.C. workers complaining of management not taking enough responsibility for their day-to-day safety. The problem of driver and employee safety is a real one, but responses and solutions have been slow to come.

Understandably, this has led to aggravation on both sides of the debate.

“There will always be frustration,†said a driver that asked not to be identified.

“It’s never going to stop now.â€

Two court orders were needed to force transit employees back to work last Monday, and this time officials with the City of Toronto say they have a plan should another strike take effect at 12:01am Monday.

“Our senior staff are going to be standing by going into work tonight if anything happens, and we’ll make sure we get a warning out if it does,†said T.T.C. Chair Howard Moscoe.

“But they’re (T.T.C. employees) are going to squander any goodwill whatsoever that they’ve built up with the people of Toronto.â€

Most workers and union representatives are keeping quiet about just how realistic a strike could be, but since any work stoppage would technically be illegal that should come as no surprise.

Union head Bob Kinnear says he’s given no instructions to walk off the job to those he represents, but it’s happened before, meaning there’s no reason it can’t and won’t happen again.

* Adding injury to insult, there was another assault on a T.T.C. employee when a female driver was attacked around 5:30pm Sunday at Sheppard Avenue West and Sentinel, near Dufferin. The driver suffered scratches to her face and was allegedly spat on. Thankfully no weapons were used and officers are looking for two young female suspects

 

[Suicidal Gingerbread Man]

It seems Kinnear is determined to follow a scorched earth policy on negotiations. He's not a union leader. He's a thug.

 

[miketoronto]

If this keeps up the TTC will see all its ridership increases go down the drain, and they will be right back to where they where in the 1990's, with declining ridership, declining service levels, and then declining need for TTC workers.

These people are playing with fire here, and alot of people are going to be turned off TTC if this keeps up.

 

[spmarshall]

Hopefully this is just rumours - but you don't know what to expect. Maybe that's the point - scare the riders away. At 12:22 on the radio, a mention that you "might want to make alternate plans for tomorrow" but nothing new right now.