Selfishness Sends Sity Spiralling Strikewards

I think my poetic licence may be revoked after that title. Oh well.

As was predicted in this space one month ago, the OC Transpo has reversed its decision on banning ads from the Freethought Association of Canada declaring the improbability of God’s existence, and encouraging people to enjoy their lives. I have also seen a marked reduction in the ‘Gods of Rock’ ads, although that just may be a coincidence. But alas, this is not the focus of today’s piece, although today still follows on the trend of buses.

As most Ottawans know, the OC Transpo strike came to an end on January 31st, after both sides agreed to go to binding arbitration with the impending threat of back-to-work legislation from the federal government. The arbitration hearing (or however that works) is set for the summer, I believe. Both sides seemed pleased, as of course did all of the citizens who rely on the transit to live their lives. You may recall that the most contentious issue on the table was that of scheduling. The city wanted to take more control of the drivers’ schedules, claiming they could save money, and then later changing their story calling it a safety issue. The drivers argued that it was about their quality of life, and being able to spend more time with their families by drawing their schedules the way they wanted based on seniority.

So for a month things ran fairly smoothly. The buses gradually got back on the roads, and service seemed to return to normal. Recently, the OC Transpo has begun to enforce federal safety standards requiring drivers to work no more than fourteen hours per day and requiring minimum eight-hour rest periods between shifts. These are standards intended to increase safety by reducing driver fatigue, although driver fatigue has never been an issue. Twenty years ago these regulations were waived by the federal government at the request of cities so that they would be able to run their systems more efficiently. Now, at the behest of the city of Ottawa, federal Transport Minister (and Ottawa MP) John Baird has announced his intention to overturn this exemption, to address driver fatigue (which, again, has never been an issue). This ruling will also affect transit systems in Windsor and Gatineau, as they are the only three systems that cross provincial or national borders.

In retaliation for these measures being taken unilaterally by the city, the Amalgamated Transit Union that represents the drivers has stopped their drivers from booking further schedules. Drivers are currently scheduled until April 17th, although the city has said that even if the dispute is not settled by then, the service will continue on the existing schedule. There is also an indication that some drivers have begun an independent and unofficial work-to-rule campaign, pulling such stunts as intentionally dawdling and delaying service, driving past people waiting to get on, in some cases buses have been reported as not showing up at all. Union leader and notorious jerk André Cornellier said about work-to-rule: “I’m delighted if they are, but I can say we didn’t ask them to do anything.”

I believe the real issue here to be about money. The city can claim safety all they want, but the exemption to the federal safety rules was put in place at their request. And, again, the city has admitted that driver fatigue has never led to an accident. The drivers on the other hand can claim quality of life all they want, but there have been reports of drivers earning six-figure salaries, by abusing and manipulating their schedules to produce the greatest amount of overtime. Now I’m not suggesting that workers shouldn’t be granted overtime pay, but surely the extra pay is compensation for extenuating and negative circumstances regarding your schedule, and when you are in charge of your own schedule, then perhaps you should not be granted the same level of overtime pay? Especially not when it comes directly at taxpayer expense.

So what we are left with again is another stand-off, but hopefully this time we have the tools to avoid another strike. The Conservative federal government is working with the right-wing mayor of Ottawa to try and save money and make the system more efficient, at the expense of the people who make the system run. On the other side is the union, ostentatiously standing up for overtime pay by leaving little old ladies at the curb as their buses fly past (and assuredly soak them with water; spring time is upon us, and this city has a terrible roadside drainage problem). And neither side is willing to admit that this is what they’re in fact doing: they both have thinly veiled claims to safety and quality.

And in the end the losers again are the people of Ottawa. We stand and wait for late, crowded buses driven by smug drivers, while the bureaucrats posture. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to me that the boss would be in charge of scheduling their employees, in order for the system to run at its best. It also doesn’t seem unreasonable to me to give seasoned employees some say in this process, as they generally work hard at a tough job that occasionally requires driving the Midnight 95. However, employees who intentionally schedule their own overtime should not be entitled to the same level of benefits as others. You should not be able to artificially create overtime work, and if it were truly about quality of life, then this would not be an issue for the drivers.

Russel MacDonald

(Bus) Strike

I'd be lying if I said the new-urbanist in me wasn't just the least bit tickled by the plight of suburban Ottawaians during the current transit strike; but the environmentalist in me is equally appalled, so it balances out.

The City of Ottawa is currently embroiled in a six-day-old transit strike, that is looking like it could easily last until the new year. This, coupled with Christmas shopping and heavy snowfall has made for some very frustrated commuters.

The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), representing OC Transpo drivers, mechanics, and others associated with public transit in the city, have been on strike since last Wednesday. This call to the picket lines corresponded with the first big snowfall of the winter, which snarled traffic, and increased transit times ten-fold for some people, while stranding many without cars. Perhaps intentional, perhaps unfortunate, but that perfect storm left many unsympathetic to the striking workers. Making things worse is the picket lines themselves around the city, where they restrict access to certain parking lots, adding up to an additional forty minutes on to an already extensive commute, and resulting in more than one incident of drivers intentionally hitting picketers with cars.

At the heart of the matter isn't money, but rather control. Control over scheduling, that is. Without fully understanding the intricacies of transit scheduling, my understanding goes something like this: under the current system the city lays our the routes and times, and then the drivers get to select their desired shifts. The drivers with the most seniority get to select first. The real difficulty comes with many of these being split-shifts revolving around the rush-hours. Many shifts are only three or four hours long, and most are during regular commuter times. What the city wants to do it be able to schedule the drivers as they see fit into these slots, which could result in a driver starting their day at 8:00am and not finishing until 9:00pm, but with three hours off in between somewhere. This represents less quality/family time for the drivers, but $3.4 million in annual savings for the city (CBC, 15 Dec 2008).

Both the city and the drivers are represented by abrasive men to whom open-mindedness does not come easily. A self-made millionaire with no political experience rode a wave of rural-populism and a 'zero-means-zero' tax-increase message to Ottawa's mayoral chair in the 2006 municipal elections. Larry O'Brien has since quashed a light-rail public transportation plan; given himself and then rescinded that same pay raise; made disparaging remarks about homeless people; and been formally charged with bribery under the Criminal Code of Canada by the OPP for his actions in the election. He has also most recently lost a budget vote, and been forced to raise taxes a whopping 4.9% higher than zero. He believes he can run a city like a business, and has been looking to correct inefficiencies in the bureaucratic machine since is inauguration (not altogether a bad thing). However, I'm sure these pinko unionists concerned about 'quality of life' just grind his gears, and he can't afford to lose this strike battle too.

On the other side is André Cornellier; a seemingly militant unionist who would throw himself under a bus if it meant protecting his drivers (not altogether a bad thing). He recently fiercely defended a driver who left a young mother at the curb while he drove off with her two-year old on board after an argument about strollers. ("The mean bus driver took me away from mommy," said the tabloid Ottawa Citizen's front page.) Cornellier has recently offered up a couple of whoppers, appearing brash and unsympathetic, and not doing himself any favours. In an interview with CTV, the following exchange occurred:
CTV- "Will you be giving your membership an opportunity to see the offer and vote on it tonight before midnight?"
AC-"No."
*pause*
CTV-"Why not?"
AC-"Why?"
When asked about the delay caused by picketers, he said: "It's about... inconveniencing people. What's wrong with that?
For more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkBIsGTlUT8&watch_response).

So now the city hangs in the balance. People are forced to find other ways to get around, and business owners are losing many customers at this vital time in a sagging economy. Freezing rain tonight, and calls for temperatures as high as 4°C Monday and as low as -9°C Tuesday, which will only result in icy slush, and we're all stuck watching two petty men duke it out (by duke it out I mean not talk to each other). I guess watching Harper try and save a measly $30 million at the expensive of the financial well-being of all of his opponents inspired O'Brien to try and save a measly $3.4 million at the expense of the contentment of oft-underappreciated employees who take a lot of abuse and make the city run. That said, calling a strike on the eve of the first big snowfall and right before the Christmas season, while being represented by a man who wears his callous disregard for everybody else like a badge of honour is not the best way to rally public sympathy. In the end really everybody loses, except for the cabs, and perhaps the new-urbanists. And this perfect storm is looking like it could go the distance.

RM