The way the mainstream media has told the story, all is well in Toronto in the aftermath of the passage of legislation in the Ontario Legislature ordering the employees of the Toronto Transit Commission back to work. The subways, buses and streetcars are running and that's all that matters.
Something is very wrong with this picture. Fundamental issues are at stake here and they cut right to the heart of our democracy.
The right of workers to withdraw their labour in pursuit of improved pay, better working conditions and job security is not some frill that can be dispensed with for the sake of momentary convenience. It is a human right no less important than the right to vote to choose members of parliaments and legislatures.
The media coverage of the transit strike in Toronto, including that of the CBC, has been shockingly one-sided. News stories have focused on the rapid response of the politicians to get the TTC back in service for Monday morning's job commute, as well as on the anger of people on the street at the workers for going on strike.
You had to search long and hard to find out why a substantial majority of TTC workers turned down the contract they had been offered. On CBC Newsworld's newscast at 8.00 a.m.,there was no coverage of the issues in the strike, and no one representing the union was interviewed. (Later in the morning a union rep was interviewed, but not on the main newscast.) On the newscast, we learned that the issues will now go to arbitration but we were not told why the workers felt compelled to turn down the contract. The tone was one of relief that the strike was over. We were left with the impression that the very idea of a strike was simply unthinkable. And then we got the words of Mayor David Miller saying he was sure that Torontonians would treat the TTC drivers with respect.
What a kindly society we are. Workers should not be the objects of public rage, but as for their right to strike that can be airily dispensed with.
We live in a time when the right of investors to do what they like has become holy writ. Speculators are driving up the price of food, which may well lead to the starvation and deaths of a not inconsiderable number of people in the poorest countries. For this, they get some mild tsk tsking, but nothing like the rage that is meted out to workers who are trying to keep their heads above water with rising fuel and food prices driving up their cost of living.
Too many wage and salary earners have fallen prey to the divide and conquer strategy of the fat cats and their media outlets. That's why we hear so much from working people about how they pay the salaries of TTC drivers out of their taxes.
Those of us who are wage and salary earners need to re-learn the solidarity that has been assiduously programmed out of us in a society where the public narrative is all about individuals making it on their own. The extent to which we are suckers to buy this line can be seen from the ever wider gap in income and wealth between the rich and the rest of us.
The problem in our society is not bus and subway drivers who are trying to make a decent living, doing a job that is wracked with increasing stress. TTC employees don't turn down a contract to inconvenience the rest of us. They only opt for a strike if their backs are pushed to the wall. Instead of blaming the workers for the inconvenience of a strike, we should aim our displeasure at the chair of the TTC, City Hall and Queen's Park. It's the decision makers there who create the conditions that make strikes necessary. Tell them you're pissed off, not the man or woman driving the bus.
As for legislating away the right of TTC workers to strike in future on the grounds that they provide an essential service, that is a crock. Public transit is vital and a lot more public capital needs to be invested in it at a time of when the days of auto use in big cities are numbered. Among other things that capital needs to ensure decent pay and working conditions for transit workers, who should not have to live with the threat that their jobs are going to be contracted out to the private sector as a way for the politicians to reduce bills by breaking unions and lowering pay.
The most dire threat to our democracy arises from the widening gap between a newly enriched class of owners and managers, and the rest of us. It's time for us to put the whole subject of economic democracy back on the agenda. It's been missing from the public dialogue for far too long.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
13 comments:
Good points about politicians and public transit as an essential service. Just to extend what you mentioned, if politicians really thought of public transit as an essential service, we would have subways and other forms of rapid transite criss-crossing all parts of Toronto. We would have GO trains running all-day and most of the night. We would have express train service from Windsor to Quebec City. We would have train service from Sudbury to Thunder Bay. We would have living communities in the suburbs where people could walk to the local stores instead of driving to the nearest Smart Centre.
I do think that next time there are labour negotiations in Toronto or the city of Ottawa with respect to transit, there won't be any incentive for either management or the unions to mutually agree as the government threat of automatic back-to-work legislation will mean that arbitration will be the only solution.
I have also mentioned in other blogs that the lack of a 48 hour warning of strike action by the union was a red herring. Dalton McGuinty would still be legislating the TTC employees back to work. Even if the union had given 72 hours notice, the government would still be legislating the workers back.
Absolutely. Another thing I haven't seen any sign of in the media coverage is just what is meant by "essential" service. It's a legal term with a specific meaning, but you wouldn't know that by listening to the media.
On a more sarcastic note, I think I should sue the TTC union for the quick shutdown of the transit service. I should also sue the Great Weatherman for every snowstorm that stops or slows down transit service practically each winter.
great post Jim.
I was particularly incensed by the NDP's support of the bill forcing the strikers back to work. The public was in no danger, so they had no pretext for voting for a blatantly anti-labour law. And unlike the Conservatives, they didn't even manage to get their own concerns mentioned in the bill. If the NDP doesn't want to be for labour, who or what does it want to be it for? It seems to me they're for being as much like the Liberals as possible. However, the Liberals are already offering that alternative.
As a subject matter expert in the changes Canada has experienced in employment, especially since the 1990s, I wonder if it would be possible to comment on the fact that most Canadians do not enjoy the priviledges that unions allow for. Most of us, at our jobs, are threatened with relocating work to other countries. This is something TTC workers do not have to worry about, while I agree they still face threats to their job through automation, and improvements in technology.
Many GTA residents are angry because TTC workers demand job security, whereas there is no such thing in their lives. Is jealousy what is driving residents to support a government attempt to ban the TTC workers right to strike?
Judging by the "person in the street interviews" aired in the media following the TTC strike we are reminded again of the old adage that the right to strike is a wonderful thing, as long as the workers don't use it.
I must agree that the one-sided coverage and shocking dismissal of the employees right to strike is disturbing and sets an upsetting precedent for future actions. As a Montrealer, we have undergone several transit strikes in the last few years mostly due to the solidarity between STM workers and those workers who clean and maintain the infrastructure of the transit system itself. There was far less fear about striking and a more insistent airing of the employees view in our case.
What surprised me was the degree to which transit users accused the employees of greed and self-interest and the accepted normalcy of poking fun at blue-collar workers. It seems to me that those who operate dangerous equipment for which licensing is necessary, those who work odd hours and likely don't have the proper tools to do their job deserve nothing but proper wages, healthcare benefits, retirement plans and so on.
Further, there is a huge shortage of skilled tradespeople right now, and the way to attract more employees is not by demonstrating that they will be treated unfairly but also blamed and made fun of by the public. poor move Toronto. Bad form.
The TTC is only 20% funded by [City] taxpayers. Therefore taxpayers, through their elected representatives, deserve no more than 20% of the vote in a vote whether or not to force them back to work. What actually happened was that those representatives got 100% of that vote. That’s not fair.
Health, safety and security of citizens - if put in a danger by a strike - sets off the need for the government to end the strike followed by mediation and then possibly arbitration.
You have to express more your opinion to attract more readers, because just a video or plain text without any personal approach is not that valuable. But it is just form my point of view
It is useful to try everything in practise anyway and I like that here it's always possible to find something new. :)
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now. Keep it up!
And according to this article, I totally agree with your opinion, but only this time! :)
Post a Comment