End the Strike Now Campaign
People are becoming more vocal about the ongoing Toronto city union strike... especially online, where anonymity allows everyone to openly vent frustrations. Though many comments take the shape of rants, they also reveal the impact this strike is having on the everyday lives of Torontonians.
One citizen (who requests anonymity) has decided to channel some of this anger and frustration in the form of an informal petition to End the Strike Now. In Toronto's often lukewarm political environment, it's refreshing to see the reaction. From garbage in parks and swimming pools, to child care concerns, the End the Strike Now campaign is attempting to record the impact of the strike and the legitimate concerns of dissatisfied citizens.
Too bad it took such a stinking mess to evoke a response.
When I interviewed the mind behind the End the Strike Now initiative, I was expecting a stern political agenda to emerge out of the petition. However, it quickly became clear that the intention is to formally register the complaints, concerns, and effect that this strike has evoked in the city.
"There are hundreds of blog comments on sites, such as yours, but I know the rest of the 2.5 million people in Toronto feel some level of disgust with what's going on. I wanted to see if there were more people against this and this seemed like the only way to find out."
The website takes visitors through a few factual statements about the strike - its duration (32 days and counting) and how long the initiative has been waiting for a response from the City (7 days and counting) - as well as recent news developments. Otherwise, there is no obvious agenda - the creator seems to geniunely offer a public forum for registering a 'strike impact statement.'
Everything is collected anonymously, and at this point is not a formal petition but rather a test to see how much support there is for this initiative. Interestingly, the people who are leaving comments (which at present, are not displayed publicly) are sharing the dramatic impact that this strike has had on their lives.
"This is very grass roots, in that these are real people who are struggling and even suffering due to the strike. These are intelligent comments that don't only vent frustration, but suggest very thoughtful people who have a genuine interest in changing the situation in our city."
The link to the petition website was initially kept secret, sent only to city councillors and select media outlets (including blogTO). Already over 100 people have left comments on the site, and over 1000 have visited - suggesting that there are a large number of people being motivated to take action against the strike.
Though the petition is not currently public (there are legalities around what defines a public petition), the creator's intent is to garner enough support to then take the petition to the Mayor, the Premier, or even CUPE. All comments left are kept private, but by leaving your name and email, the creator can contact you to see if you would like to be added to the official petition once it is registered.
The hope is that this new-found public interest in city operations will renew the public's political motivation, and the creator is very much aware of this tenuous political interest. There's a municipal election coming (November 8, 2010 to be exact) and while the current political climate is charged thanks to the strike, the public often forgets once the situation is resolved.
Already Miller has attempted to placate the public, refunding summer camp, pool and leadership program fees, but as yet has offered no relief on property taxes or garbage collection fees. The End the Strike Now website will help to ensure that the impact of this summers strike isn't forgotten, and can be used to drive positive change in city planning and policy.
"I don't have the answer - are people being affected by the strike? The mayor? The Union? The NDP? This 'petition' is more of a conscious retaliation to the current strike situation. What difference does it make when 24,000+ workers leave their job? The bottom line is that people are really concerned, and they need to voice those concerns."
Photos: laurie.mcgregor and Brendan Lynch
Comments (67)
The NDP? What's the NDP got to do with this one? Miller quite publicly renounced his membership years ago. Shouldn't we be questioning the role of the McGuinty Liberals and dozens of their MPPs from Toronto who have broken their 2003 promises to upload services Harris downloaded to the city?
I would rather the strike go on for another month than to have the city give in to the union.
This will continue to happen every. single. time. there is a new contract discussion.
Perhaps next time the unions will think twice about entering into a strike that could potentially last months and be actually willing to comprimise from the start.
As a childless, forest-hill condo-dwelling Torontonian I am the first to admit the strike hasn't impacted my life very much. And I've been embarrassingly reluctant to take a side - until I drove by the picketing location of CUPE on Eastern Ave. Completely abandoned in the rain, and covered in garbage left behind by the strikers. The incongruity of that when held up next to the major cleaning efforts by local business and citizens - it's officially disgusting to me on every level.
Wow. End the strike. Good idea. I'm sure nobody involved has considered that. Now all we need is a solution, but hey, now that we know we should end the strike, solving the issues at hand is trivial, right?
I agree with Ryan. Keep the strike going rather than give into the greedy union. They think their sick days are more important then the pollution occurring on city parks from all the garbage, which disgusts me.
FYI, 5% of the striking workers are garbage men.
Calling this a garbage strike is like calling Sunny D fruit juice.
DON'T END THE STRIKE
Instead argue for a court order that will allow the city to bring in private contractors to pick up garbage and clean the dump sites. This shouldn't be too difficult in light of the public health dangers this garbage poses.
One thing that strike has shown me is that the city will function just fine without garbage workers. I thought this would not be possible, but really they are not that relevant. The only problem is the union workers blocking every attempt of alternate removal.
Also lesson learned is that dumps should operate separately from pickup, also residential garbage be picked up by a different contractor than the city bin garbage, This avoids a single point of failure.
Agreed Ryan, let them rot and go broke from a summer of no pay. I can handle more garbage in the streets more than I can handle these smug A holes getting their way.
There have been a few protesters outside of the RC Harris Filtration plant (presumably they work there). Just camping out there all day with food brought from home. Over the last few weeks they have been amassing quite a sizable amount of their own garbage...and they've just been leaving it there.
It almost seems that they are artificially trying to make the garbage situation worse. People in the area have been very good at keeping things clean. Unpaid volunteers have been cleaning the few spots that have been problems. So when you walk down Queen East, pretty much the only garbage you see is the garbage created by the protesters in front of RC Harris (and there are only a few protesters!).
Some of it in bags, some of it not. Just sitting there on the grass with absolutely no attempt to put it someplace more appropriate or someplace where it would have less environmental impact.
My husband and I will be canceling our newspaper subscription until garbage and recycling services resume. It's a small act of defiance, but perhaps if more people do this and make sure the newspapers know the reason for the cancellation, I bet the services to children and families will be one step closer to being resolved. And make sure we all leave a NO FLYERS notice on your mailboxes. There should have been a moratorium on unsolicited flyers when the strike first started.
good point, unless workers can live indefinitely on union pay eventually they will cross picket lines and go back to work. but who knows how long that would take - is that fair to everyone else suffering from the strike? union itself probably won't run out of money.
how about a "no deal" from the city and a back-to-work order from the province?
I think it's a quicker solution, but another strike will be called sooner than later.
Where as fear of being obsoleted (it's a word now..mmmkay ?) and replaced would make people reconsider striking again. Once private steps in it catches a foothold and establishes an industry. My home and work are already privately serviced for garbage pick up. I believe my work switched from the city to private during last strike.
Private garbage companies can't hold us hostage.
is privatization the answer? It's an initial "that'll teach'em" approach for sure but will it work? I'm not sure we can privatize ourselves out of this mess, look at all the services affected by just this strike http://bit.ly/11Yoix
I'm not opposed to privatization in general but it means we're letting go of control. Not to mention, sourcing out the Toronto garbage program would be a monumental task for any contractor – as far as "that'll teach'em"...I think any smart contractor winning the city contract would hire the laid off workforce. But it's an option, and I think the city is wrong not to consider it – at least for some services.
The poor newspapers... they're already having trouble staying afloat - i seriously doubt canceling your paper will have any impact on the strike.
I don't necessarily wish they would end the strike. I wish they would find ppl who would gladly work and help clean up this city and run the ferries, and look after public health clinics, etc. I am ashamed of what is happening in this city and angered by the violent, disrespectful actions made by these CUPE strikers. Should we hop on the greed-wagon and start asking for a 'tax rebate' for all of the days that these services we pay for- well, were not available??
What he said. I wish the strike would end too, but frankly I wish there were more pressure on the *unions* to back down rather than the city.
hey Rajio, at least you're not being sarcastic ;-) you're right, the strike is a symptom of greater issues that need to be resolved. symptoms still need to be treated though – in this case ending the strike takes care of that. what the real issues are and how to deal with them is in the air for all of us to discuss. what are your thoughts?
Yeah, screw the workers. My job sucks and so too should everyone else's. Actually, why don't we bring in a maximum wage? $8 an hour for everyone and no sick days or vacation. Only greedy people want more. That's our goal, right everyone?
Let them stay out, they become more and more redundant every day.
I do feel bad for the businesses that will likely go bankrupt on the island.
But I agree, the union needs to be broken.
Wow. Their jobs must been pretty bad to allow all these people to take 30 days+ off of work on top of all the sick days they get and vacation time. They must really really need more money.
Assholes.
I don't think the strike should keep going. I don't think the city should give in either. I think we have to teach the union a lesson, strike is not the a solution at all time!
Three things.
1. EMS should not be able to legally strike. We need this changed.
2. Any city workers blocking/attacking people for dumping garbage at zoned dumping sites should be sent to prison.
3. Any city workers blocking ambulances should be shot in the leg and left miles away from any hospital.
This is disgraceful. Shame on you city workers.
Unfortunately your sarcasm is useless because you clearly have failed the understand why Toronto residents are angry.
Wait in a 5 hour line to drop off your garbage, pickup your kids from private daycare (if you could even find any spots), help the summer island workers find new jobs, etc, and then get back to us.
But I guess if YOU benefit from all these issues, it's worth it. For you.
I forgot to mention, in the real world people with crappy jobs quit and do what's necessary/possible to find new ones. CUPE and YOU should take note.
Over a month already of this strike, and nothing seems to be happening. I totally disagree with CUPE and their greedy demands, but Mr. Miller seems to be talkinga very quiet and laidback aprach to this whole catastrophe. We need a mayor thathasa bit more balls and can talk tough, not say that "Torontonians understand and are coping well". come on. And it's not just the garbage - there are children especially from low income families who can't swim in pools or enjoy basic fun provided in city parks and community centres. There are homeless people and those on the fringes of society whose shelter aren't being operated on a full staff leaving people hungry and in the streets or using already full tothe brim private charities. I don't care why these people are homeless whether it's their fault or not, but thats not a a way to treat anybody. These fat CUPE pigs wantto line their pockets with all kinds of benefits hardly anybody else has. So you don't get sick days..too bad
And dan should also note that this is not really called bargaining.
Bargening is something i do with a person when i have a choice, if i don't like the deal from a vendor i go somewhere else. What cupe is doing is hostage taking, you give me what i want or i won't let you do what you need to do with me or anyone else.
That' why when the workers are on strike, there should be no limitations for the city to get their labour somewhere else.
Lastly, dan, screw the cupe workers that support this. Due to this a lot of people are suffering that don't get to hold places hostage, way more people than cupe has on their leash.
I can handle another month or two quite easily, don't give in to the overpaid uneducated thugs.
I really hate the strike now. We pay so much tax, in exchange, we got strike from the workers now.. We are the loser in this game.
Are we still blaming Harris??? I'm surprised the Socialists haven't blamed Harris for 9/11!! It's the Socialist Miller and his city council to blame for the decline of the city ever since Miller took power!!!
Mike W - sure I'm angry, but rather than s*$t on workers who are simply trying to hang onto what they've got, I blame Miller for this fiasco. I'd call my city councillor and urge the city to actually negotiate - like they did with all the other locals who just recently settled.
And that guy - Once again, if your jobs suck, organize yourselves. Explain how bringing down everyone's working conditions would help us? And read up on labour's history, you might learn a thing or two about how you've benefited from past union gains.
And no, I'm not a CUPE member. But I would be proud to be part of an organization that stands up for what's right, especially in the face of all the knee-jerk, selfish vitriol.
Dan,
If my job sucks, I will find a new one. If I can't find anything better, maybe it's because I don't have the skills that people desire. That means I need to try harder to improve myself and make myself more employable. I don't go to hold the entire city hostage and punish others for my lack of ability to make a better life for my family and me.
Dan I love my job, i get paid well for what i do.
My parents are in CAW and they hate it.
Guess what, they don't get to choose not to be in it. They don't get to not pay union dues, they hate the fact that workers at their factories that do drugs on jobs get busted and than protected by the union, suspended with full pay while they have to pick up the slack.
Unions are a necessary evil i agree. However i am against mega unions. Garbage works should not be grouped iwth other city workers. They should ahve their own union to minimize impact. Right now it's in their interest do do maximum damage tho get their demands. As the person whose money goes to pay their wage i have a problem with their demands, because i don't think they are worth what thye get and would like to see competition. It's amazing how much productivity goes up when your job is on the line.
I don't want to see everything privatized, but i want to see everything diversified.
CUPE Talking points again... /facepalm
I'm not wasting time addressing these because they've been addressed so many times already. Justify why you should benefit from at the city's expense, PLEASE. How do you sleep at night.
And to the other poster: accusations of Socialism is getting as old accusations of Terrorism or being a Nazi. Give it a rest and throw in something relevant.
Personally i believe both the union representatives and the city's politicians should be forced to take a significant pay cut to help recoup the costs of this strike. They get paid too much to be doing so little.
The point that Dan misses is that the history of Unions, and the benefits they have created, have largely made it into policy. If it is our government that defines fair and equitable working conditions, then why on earth do our public employees need unions?
Make up your mind: either we have public sector employees working for the city. Or we privatize these services, and let the unions negotiate with the business that takes over the contract. As it is, we have complete dysfunction because the striking employees do not share equally in the pain that their actions are causing. Miller put out an overly generous package, and the Union will still happily wait for arbitration that will make it even more attractive.
What surprises me is that I don't see anyone from City Hall stepping up to the plate here. Torontonians have spoken loud and clear that it is time that we privatize many of these services. Garbage collection, in particular, is long overdue to be moved out from the City's mandate. Is no one willing to take on this challenge? If so, they will get my mayoral vote next year.
Seriously Mike W - "Justify why you should benefit from at the city's expense, PLEASE. How do you sleep at night." Talk about not throwing in something relevant.
Explain how a child care worker (you know those lazy asses who look after our kids) should only get $15 an hour and no sick days? Really? That's what they deserve?
Why do they deserve more ?
Their job is no harder than the people work at fast food restaurants at $10 an hour.
Make it a mandatory service, no striking means binding arbitration, and I'm pretty sure an arbitrator would be fair.
And for anyone union bashing, fine, break the cop union. There are tons of people willing to write tickets and stand around construction sites for far less than what the cops are getting paid.
I guess I'm just a little riled up at such blatant disregard for the public good, acts of self interest, and the propaganda used that tries (but fails) to justify it.
You forgot to the proposed pay raises, and the proposed short term disability plan. "No sick days"? Get the facts.
http://www.toronto.ca/offer/pdf/sick-leave-std-compared.pdf
Spoke to a Labour Lawyer the other day and he told me Miller was blowing smoke on how difficult it was to get an injunction both against time delay at garbage drop offs and getting outside contractors in to remove garbage. He gave the impression that if Miller wanted he could get the dumps cleaned out regularly and remove any chance the the Health Officer would pull strike for safety reasons. But that could prolong the strike, piss of his CUPE allies and piss off most of his NDP Executive Committee.
And dan on,
Miller not renewing his NDP membership was obviously optics only when he then went and stacked the Executive Committee, essential th City Cabinet with as many of the NDP caucus as he could. Only an NDPer would appoint Howard Moscoe to the most powerful body in the City.
Bring on the arbitrator! There's a reason Miller doesn't want to go that route! Think about it.
Mike W - you do realize there are different union locals on strike with different collective agreements right?
And I guess I just think that qualified professionals who help our kids' early childhood development should get paid more than a teenager at McD's. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just see a child care worker's job as pretty important.
The people i know form highschool that went into early childhood education seemed to have pretty low targets to hit. I don't see a skill that is out of the ordinary involved, they just happen to be working with kids.
Rather than pull the whole "think of the children" card that every union advocate seems to be playing these days, can you directly address what you think of the offer to move to an STD plan (which most private organizations have been successfully implementing for decades) versus the bankable sick days? Seeing as that seems to be a major stumbling block on reaching a deal I am curious why the pro-union sheep always change the subject when it comes up.
Oh yeah because it's fair and realistic.
I just looked at the city's offer from a couple of weeks back. Seems completely reasonable and generous. (A cap on prescription drug dispensing fee of $9.50, wage increases for the next four years which compound to 7.2%, exchanging Remembrance Day holiday for Family Day...) Why did the union reject it?
Because they don't want to face reality ... Give them a weeks warning, kick them out on their ass and get them to reapply for their jobs.
Miller: Get the police to do their job and stop these people obstructing us from getting on with our lives.
Give us everything,the recession is over (just ask the Bank of Canada, who you probably trust more) and home sales are skyrocketing.(Miller will make tons on land transfer) Hold out another month, (No Problem make it 2) I AM a skilled worker and YOU hired me to protect your interest from liability so your neighbour wont sue every week or when someone builds a house without a permit, so I have been working since the first day of this strike.
Civic workers have never been respected and never will, so as an Inspector its about C.Y.A and rest assured I do that so no breaks will be given when I return.
Know the facts....I never wanted to STRIKE
Dan wrote:
And I guess I just think that qualified professionals who help our kids' early childhood development should get paid more than a teenager at McD's. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just see a child care worker's job as pretty important.
I agree. Qualified professionals SHOULD be entitled to a reasonable income for their work whether it be a nurse, engineer, ECE worker, etc. BUT i believe that the offer presented was generous and very reasonable. Think about all of the people who do not even have jobs presently. All those who have been laid off and these CITY workers are not happy?
I don't know about you, but when it comes down to it being a CITY worker means you work FOR the people. I am very disgusted with their demands as CITY workers. I am a health care worker and it bothers me that these workers are fighting for wage increases, sick days, etc. that majority of the general public do not have. As mentioned above, I am a health care worker and do NOT get half of the benefits these city workers receive. But I do no walk out on the job and leave patients hanging because my intention and work ethic is FOR the people.
i do not believe it to be wrong to fight for what you believe/want. but when so many people are affected, there should be some consideration.
Garbage men don't have to lift as much any more. There is a lifter on the back of the trucks now for grey/blue bins. This means less injuries and sick days.
Please call By-Law and have officers come out and ticket these goons. I used to live by the plant and I know the citizens there and the BIA keep it clean. It must certainly be the striker's garbage.
Typical pea-brained argument when you have no real argument.
People don't think the striking worker's job should suck. They are already compensated very well. The angry people just want to see the pay reflect reality and not be further inflated beyond reason. The reality is that public sector jobs are removed from the strains of the free market since politicians aren't worried about the well running dry and they just raise taxes to pay for idiots like CUPE.
At least some people are making good come of this strike; just saw a kid posting flyers for trash collection services, $3 a bag. Him and his friends apparently take it down to the transfer station in a wagon or something? lol, cute, sortof.
garbage pickup is the new lemonade stand.
"Explain how a child care worker (you know those lazy asses who look after our kids) should only get $15 an hour and no sick days? Really? That's what they deserve?"
First off, that sounds like BS. A childcare houskeer earns over $20/hr. so I have a hard time believing a child care worker makes $15/hr. But otherwise, it sounds more like a union failing to me. Tell me, why is it that other members in the same union have such great pay and benefits but others don't? Shouldn't the great and mighty union treat all its members fairly?
If what you say is true, then it shows even more how pointless the union is when it can't even make sure all its members are treated, using their term, "fairly"?
>Tell me, why is it that other members in the same union have such great pay and benefits but others don't?
You call 21/hour great pay? That's what sanitation workers make
Childcare workers in ontario make approximately 22k a year. Which is very roughly 15/hour.
>If what you say is true, then it shows even more how pointless the union is when it can't even make sure all its members are treated, using their term, "fairly"?
No, it means that these people would make 8/hour with no benefits if there wasn't a union watching out for them.
Right, because people are sheep and can't think to find a new job is theirs is unfair or underpaid, resulting in employers evening out pay...
Thousands of employers are fair without the intervention of unions. You act unions are preventing Ragnarök.
If this happened in Montreal, you would see people protesting in streets. Toronto's response = online bickering. We deserve this shit people. We deserve it.
I'm with you Ryan L., but I'd go one step further. No services should mean no taxes. Either the city should offer temporary contracts private companies to fill the gaps or there should be a moratorium on city tax collection so that I can obtain my own private disposal (and other) services.
View More Events
Suggest an Event
Join the blogTO Flickr group
Join the blogTO YouTube Group
RSS