Link It, or it never happened...

A collection of various links and stories. From me to you. Enjoy.

The biggest news in Toronto: A Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) worker (he takes subway fares from people) is caught napping on the job. Why is it such a sensation? It's another straw on the fire as people are fed up with the horrible service, rude employees, and fare increases. Most of the ire is directed at the union whose job it is to protect the rude employees who make as much as Registered Nurses or other similarly skilled workers.

Official responses to the story: TTC promises an investigation, the union's only response is to blame the photo taker for not trying to wake their sleeping employee, and said employee actually says on the record, "God bless the Union." Toronto public respond by snapping more pictures of sleeping employees and employees watching videos in the booth. If I had a union who protected me from being fired I might sleep on the job and be rude as well. I for one have personally experienced the outlandish rudeness of said employees though have yet to see a sleeping one - though I often see them doing crosswords or reading the newspaper. Yet another reason that slowly pushes me from pro-union to anti-union...

Africa = AIDS. According to Twitter, it's true!

Remember a while back when I wrote piece on using images of Starving Children in Africa? What, you don't? Well, it seems to be the most viewed page on my blog. I also found a chap who works in Ethiopia that seems to agree with me and wrote a great post on Poverty Porn, check it out.

Want to know more about Haiti's history? Did you know it was the first independent nation in Latin America and the first black-led republic in the world? Check out these two books which I am in the process of reading, The Black Jacobins by CLR James and Avengers of the New World by Laurent Dubois.

I've been following a great blog by a photographer in Liberia. Great photos to check out at Scarlett Lion.

Big news today: Ethiopian Airlines jet goes down off of Lebanon. Despite this, they remain one of the best, safest, most reliable airline on the continent - I would gladly fly them again.

Strike Out

This picture is but a small glimpse at what Toronto looks like these days. Garbage piles up on the streets. Parks, rinks, and baseball diamonds have been requisitioned as temporary garbage dumping sites and bags pile ten high as they fill the rink. As you pass certain alleys or dumpsters you smell the sweet, putrid aroma or decomposing food scraps. Welcome to the Centre of the Universe.

While the strike doesn't affect us as strongly as it does others in the city (being part of an apartment management company we have private contractors for our garbage), there are many other aspects of the strike. We found where the nearest swimming pool was to take Daija only to have it closed the next day due to the strike. Daija has been having some trouble eating so we called the public health line only to be told to call back - don't we know there is a strike happening? Today, I have time to write a blog because all Canada Day festivites have been cancelled. Daycares are closes, summer camps cancelled, parks neglected, etc...

Normally, I withhold my minor frustrations with unions because I know their historical importance in fighting for rights I now enjoy. While I argue that they have lost their way and have pervertyed their original goals, I can still see the spirit is there. Unfortunately, this strike seems to have turned all union supporters to the other side. I think it would be hard to find a soul in Toronto (outside of the union) who feels this is a reasonable strike.

Comments on CBC's message boards read something like this: "SHAME...SHAME...SHAME...
..Nothing but organized extortion", "disband the union, contract privately....it's that simple
DO NOT HOLD THE TAXPAYING MAJORITY HOSTAGE", "This is absurd, unions are becoming more and more like cartels holding the public hostage".... and on and on. And this is from a normally far-left audience.

The main quibbles in this dispute seem to be over the ability to bank sick days and cash them in, a perk the union "earned" last contract dispute. The city argues that in this economic climate they simply can't afford some of these bonuses any more.

To this I say: Fire the striking workers; pull a Ronald Reagan. In a time when the private sector is cutting jobs and costs how can the public sector be unaffected? Be happy you get to keep your job! You're striking and making the people suffer because you want to bank sick days? You've got to be kidding me. These guys start at $20 an hour, have great benefits without much training/education - and you want to bank sick days? This has to be the most ill-timed, poorly thought out strike to date. There is zero public support and for once the majority is telling the city to take a hard line with the strikers and I hope they do.

The union gambled, chose a strike date around the summer and Canada hoping to add extra pressure to the city, and has now struck out. It's time for them to gracefully bend and hope that, when their contract comes back up in however many years time, they play their cards better. It's either that or privatization. Job or no job.