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

Another One About Buses

Apparently I like to write blogs about buses, with this one following previous discussions on increased safety on the Greyhound and the OC Transpo strike in Ottawa. I think there’s something simple and communal about the bus. Driving from A to B with an evolving flow of strangers getting where they need to be. I haven’t actually taken a bus in months, which had nothing to do with the transit strike, but I guess I just like the idea of them. But I digress.

Today’s post is about the atheist bus ads which have been taking the country by storm (or at least a discussion or two on CBC radio and the odd newspaper article…). For those who haven’t heard, the Freethought Association of Canada has decided to bring an ad campaign that started in Britain over to Canada. They plan to plaster the message: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life” on buses across the country. The ads have been approved in Toronto and Calgary, and have begun to appear on TTC vehicles. They have, however, been rejected by Halifax, Ottawa, London, Vancouver, Victoria, and Kelowna. The Halifax Metro has refused to meet with the organization, and London and the British Columbia three have quoted general policy guidelines rejecting ads that “promote or oppose a specific theology or religious ethic, point of view, policy or action.”

In Ottawa it’s a little bit stickier. They have said: “The Advertising Standards section of our contract specifically excludes religious advertising which might be offensive to transit users, so we cannot approve this ad.” This has not stopped them from approving not-yet-released ads for Bus Stop Bible Studies, which quotes scripture and asks ‘big questions.’ It has also not stopped them from plastering pictures of glum pregnant young women ironing, with a slogan suggesting fathers should lock up their daughters because a certain radio station is bringing back the Gods of Rock. (I do not believe in God, therefore I do not believe in Gods of Rock. I find this offensive.)
By including the intangible phrase ‘offensive,’ OC Transpo has left itself room for criticism. Not that the decision in the end is any better than in London or Kelowna, but at least there the intolerance is all-encompassing, and maintains ad space as a way to hock unnecessary junk. Even the founder of Bus Stop Bible Studies is dumbfounded, asking with an Obama-y level cooperation why OC Transpo approved his ads but not the atheist ones. David Harrison asked: “Why would they approve ours and not theirs? If we don’t stand up for (the atheists’) rights, ours will be trampled too.”

I am not going to sit here and spew outrage at OC Transpo’s decision. It was clearly a misguided decision, and likely one that will be overturned. Maybe they’ll even make it a two-fer, and cover up misogyny with discourse. I suspect the Freethought Association would even have been disappointed had the ads not been barred in some cities. Much like PETA’s naked broccoli banned Superbowl ads, they get lots of sympathy and free publicity this way, and will still likely see their message on a number of buses.

Whether or not the ads will strike somebody and make them realize that they don’t actually believe in God and therefore they are atheists (it’s true), the ads have still already accomplished much of what they were attempting to do, which is stir up healthy debate. Most ads are aimed at exploiting people and subtly maintaining a culture of consumerism anyways, so let’s not hold them with too high an esteem. Had the slogan read something like: “God doesn’t exist, you moron,” then I could see some people being upset. But as they stand, they are nothing but an attempt to open debate, and get a rise out of people who take life too seriously. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.

Russel MacDonald