All things private and public
The issue of privatising the TTC has come back into the news in the last few days, and I would like to take this opportunity to announce my opinion on the subject:
I don't care.
Some background, after the jump:
Read more »Labels: politics, union/management
Back-to-Work Legislation Passes
Spacing is reporting that back-to-work legislation has passed unanimously by the legislature, bringing an end to what I will dub "the lost weekend." Service is expected to resume for the morning rush hour tomorrow, but there is a slight possibility that the system will be running by 9 PM tonight. If you start seeing buses running this evening, I would be weary, as your connecting service might not be running yet.
When you board the TTC tonight or tomorrow, remember to be kind to the operators and collectors. They will surely be under a lot of pressure from less civilized passengers, and a nice message of "I'm glad you're back" will definitely brighten up their mood. Pay It Forward was on last night, and I think we can learn a lot from that movie.
Karma repays.
Labels: ttc, union/management
Calm the crap down
The TTC is now on strike. Feel free to complain about the situation we have found ourselves in. However, everyone who is taking this as an open-ended opportunity to bash people who belong to unions need to calm the crap down. Comments like "If they have no respect for the public, we should have no respect from them. Deunionize the bastards" aren't helpful. You may not agree with their methods, but remember that ATU 113 members are just trying to do what's best for their families.
I'm going to turn off the TV now, as some of the callers on CP24 are ridiculous. Lady! Museum station was paid for through the capital budget! Salaries are paid from the operating budget! The law says you can't transfer money between those two accounts!
Labels: ttc, union/management
Out of left field
The TTC's union rejected the proposed contract this evening, but things are quickly spiraling out of control. According to media reports, members of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113, will be on strike as of 12:00 midnight this evening.
So how did we get here? Well, there is no reasonable way you could argue that this is the city's fault for not offering an acceptable agreement. Blame for this situation falls squarely on the union leadership for being only 35% in touch with their membership.
Mr. Kinnear, I am not a member of your Union but I think you need to look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you have the ability to continue to lead ATU local 113.
Labels: ttc, union/management
Agreement reached: Strike Averted
The TTC and the Union have reached a tentative agreement.
Service will operate as usual tomorrow morning.
Labels: ttc, union/management
Pizza & Snacks
NewsTalk 1010 CFRB has reported that pizza and snacks were sent up to the negotiators within the last hour. There is speculation that a new offer worth debating was placed on the table in the 11th hour, and no one from the Union or the TTC has made a statement. The deadline was 31 minutes ago.
This blogger isn't really surprised at what's happening.
And if Spider Jones says "strike watch" one more time, this blogger is going to scream.
Labels: ttc, union/management
Budget Roundup
The provincial budget was introduced yesterday, and contained some transit goodies for the GTAH.
n Hamilton, service on the B-Line will be improved to connect Eastgate Square with McMaster University, and the A-Line will be introduced to connect downtown with the mountain. In addition, there's funding for a new GO station in Hamilton at the foot of James Street. This station could serve as a jumping-off point to Niagara, and would be less expensive to expand all-day-service to (as CP demands the Hamilton tunnel essentially be rebuilt before service improvements to the station on Hunter Street).
Peel will see service improvements on Dundas and Hurontario, hopefully resulting in something better than an on-street connection between the two bus routes serving the latter street. Also, GO service to Bolton will be improved, but it won't be a substitute for a local transit system.
Halton will see BRT along Dundas, and hopefully a combination of development and feeder bus systems will improve ridership. Dundas is a very busy street, but with most of the homes backing onto it, I worry if there are other corridors which need attention in Halton.
In York Region, VIVA will be getting bus only lanes from Richmond Hill centre to Newmarket Terminal, and along the VIVA Purple route from Pine Valley Drive to Kennedy Road. Curious locations, but its a good first start and addresses the most congested portions of the route.
Durham will get funding to wean themselves off GO and build their own BRT route on Highway 2. This should help DRT finally find its own identity, and could lead to the "plate of spaghetti" in Pickering and Ajax being turned into a logical network. They also received funding to establish a route to Cornell Terminal. DRT routes are almost completely isolated, and this will bring the system into the warm embrace of the GTHA network.
Toronto will get funding to start work on Transit City, funding for automatic train control and funding for the Yonge Street busway - all projects which will build capacity and speed up service. It will be interesting to see the busway's final design, as it will have to accommodate express and local buses heading between Steeles Avenue and Finch Station.
In the broader picture, there will be funding for bike racks on vehicles and lockers at GO stations, 20 new coaches (for the Lakeshore Line, but not necessarily for the Lakeshore Line), 10 more double decker buses (the first was spotted on the road today running some tests), and passing tracks to bring all-day service to the Bradford and Stouffville lines by 2010.
In addition to all that, there's gas tax funding. It was a good budget for transit, but as always, I hope the province doesn't rest on it's laurels.
In other news, this round of collective bargaining between the TTC and the Union seems to be filled with conflicting reports. It's difficult to sort truth from fact, but the bottom line is that the Union will be in a legal strike position on April 1st... and that's no foolin'!
Labels: brampton transit, durham region transit, GO Transit, mississauga transit, politics, ttc, union/management, york region transit
Tentative Agreement!
City TV is reporting that a tentative agreement has been reached between GO Transit and the Amalgamated Transit Union local representing GO bus drivers, maintenance workers and other staff.
For now, the threat of a strike has eased. However, the agreement must still be ratified by union membership. The last agreement was rejected, so what happens next is anybody's guest. Stay tuned over the next week for more news on how this situation will play itself out.
Labels: GO Transit, union/management
200!
This celebrates my 200th post on this blog, and I hope I have the pleasure of writing 200 more!
Here's a news roundup:
GO bus drives, station agents and clerical staff have been in a legal strike position since the tentative settlement reached earlier in the month was rejected, but according to the union president, Denis Tanham, union members won't walk out over the Christmas holidays and will offer 48 hours strike notice. Durham-based bloggers like
Karem Allen have some interesting comments on the issue, as Durham Region's transit options rely very heavily on the Highway 2 GO bus corridor.
Condominium sales accounted for 52% of all new home sales in Toronto for the year 2007, suggesting that this past year was "The Year of the Condo". I was going to praise this as a sign that sustainable densities and development concepts are beginning to take a strong foothold in the minds of Toronto citizens and developers, but aside from parts of northeastern Scarborough, there is no greenfield development occurring in Toronto. This dilutes the figure, but it does show that things are starting to change. Hopefully we will see the same trends begin to develop in the suburban municipalities.
Be weary of modified service in the period between Christmas Eve and New Years Day. Some agencies are running on holiday service on particular days, while others are running on weekday service with reduced or modified frequency on some routes. Double check the schedules if you plan to head out over the next two weeks.
If you plan to head to the malls over the weekend, consider taking transit to avoid getting into a fist fight over a parking space.
And above all else, have a happy festive season!
Labels: GO Transit, union/management, urban design
VIA Rail Canada
I know the media has to simplify things, but VIA Rail does not use CN crews on any of its trains. All of their staff is in-house.
Labels: union/management
News Roundup
The TTC is a big ticket item this budget year. According to the Toronto Star, about half of the city's capital budget is earmarked for the TTC. I'm all in favour of higher spending on capital projects for transit, but according to Kyle Rae (Ward 27, Toronto Centre - Rosedale), the city is becoming a transit agency, with a few other functions on the side. Clearly, the city cannot function on solely property taxes. Regular funding is needed.
Transport Canada says that all ferries need to have passengers board in single file lines, pass through metal detectors and have their bag inspected. Miller is asking for an exemption, because the Toronto Island Ferry system is fundamentally different than the inter-provincial ferries this order is trying to regulate. I wonder what will happen to Vancouver's Seabus, which is considered to be part of the regular TransLink network.
We thought we were safe, but we actually weren't. Previously, CN and the union representing CN conductors reached a deal which would keep commuter trains running in the event of a strike (which could happen as early as tonight). However, its now been reported that CN conductors assigned to passenger service can still walk off the job with three days notice. GO will release details of their contingency plan later today.
In other news, CN has not bid on the new tender to operate GO transit trains. The reports say that they just weren't interested, but I think that they really haven't been interested since the early 1970s.
Labels: GO Transit, ttc, union/management
News Roundup
New streetcars, no new fare hikesThe TTC has voted to pursue a 1.5 billion, 10 year plan to replace the current fleet of streetcars with 200 new light rail vehicles. If everything goes according to plan, the first new vehicles will begin arriving in 2010. At the same meeting, they voted not to consider a fare hike to balance the operating budget. I guess we can have our cake and eat it too.
Possible CN StrikeCN conductors will be in a legal strike position at midnight, February 9. There are several proposals that would keep those assigned to GO service on the job, but if all those fail, trains on all but the Milton line will not run. Buses will not be sent to replace the trains, as there are no spare buses in the fleet. You can try to catch one of the regularly scheduled bus runs, or take local transit. You don't have to drive because the trains are not running!
In the mean time, GO is putting a plan together to address the bad start to the new year. Hopefully it will help minimize problems, but some problems simply cannot be fixed. To the letter to the star a few weeks ago, saying how "switch problems have been happening for twenty years, and they should have been fixed by now," I have this to say:
You've been leaving your car outside every winter, and you still have to clean off the ice and snow every morning. Why haven't you fixed that problem? You've had twenty years too...
The Big DelayThe Blogosphere is somewhat of a community, which is why I passed this story along to Transitrider.
Here's his coverage,
with more here. Here's a recap.
The 5:45 train leaves Union on time, and has just left Weston heading westbound towards Etobicoke North. Unknown to the engineer, vandals - nay, saboteurs - had placed a barrel filled with water and ice on the rail. The engineer, already slowing for the station, puts the train into emergency. The train strikes the debris fast enough to get it lodged underneath the cab car, but due to the quick reaction, not fast enough to cause a derailment. The train has to be terminated where it stops, and plan is to accommodate passengers on an extended 6:45.
However, plans don't always go well.
CN and Toronto Police consider the line a crime scene, and as a result, the line can be opened in time. The 6:45 is delayed for two-and-a-half hours, making it a three and a half hour delay for passengers on the 5:45.
If you have any information about this, call Toronto Police, CN Police or Crimestoppers.
powered by
performancing firefoxLabels: GO Transit, streetcars, ttc, union/management
GO must resolve labour difficulties - Toronto Star
Editorial
GO must resolve labour difficulties January 04, 2007 Adding to their post-holiday blues, GO Transit commuters heading to work on the first business day of the year had to cope with cancelled buses on some routes and several delayed trains. Unlike previous winter snarl-ups, these problems were not storm-related. This time, officials cited labour difficulties as a factor in Tuesday's trip cancellations and slowdowns, raising the spectre of chronic trouble in this vital transit system. Lingering labour problems, such as ongoing staffing disputes and unexpected days-off taken by drivers, must not derail a service that is critical to Toronto's economy and vital in the movement of masses of people. About 195,000 passengers ride GO Transit buses and trains on an average weekday, mainly travelling to downtown Toronto, and back, from surrounding communities. If they all switched to driving, the resulting gridlock would render the region's already-jammed highways almost impassable, affecting the movement of goods as well as people across the GTA. Starting 2007 with labour problems is an ill omen for GO, and a clear signal that more effort must go to improving union-management relations. Both the system's administrators and its labour leaders must take the initiative in defusing tensions before matters spiral out of control as they did last spring at the Toronto Transit Commission. The TTC was hit by a one-day wildcat strike in May that affected the lives of 700,000 commuters and cost the local economy millions of dollars in lost production as people arrived late for work or not at all. The GO Transit slowdowns Tuesday appear to have stemmed in part from the trimming of 34 train engineer jobs on GO's busy Lakeshore routes. Those jobs were cut Dec. 29 as a money-saving measure. Some of the bus drivers taking the day off may have done so in solidarity with train engineers. And a spokesperson for CN, which supplies GO Transit's train crews, blamed rail delays on labour "work-to-rule behaviour" in the wake of the cuts. In contrast, a union official attributed tie-ups to administrators who were unable to cope with the job of reassigning crews. One thing is obvious – labour relations at GO need improvement. The system has experienced worker-related slowdowns before, most notably last summer, when some CN train crews didn't show up for Friday shifts resulting in several train cancellations. Such incidents undermine confidence in the system and do nothing to attract, and keep, riders. GO Transit has been a remarkable success story since its launch in 1967. Today the system's trains and buses carry some 48 million riders yearly. However, the needs of the GTA have grown dramatically over the past 40 years. GO Transit must meet those needs through improved service, including such things as larger parking lots and more trains and buses serving more areas. But if GO Transit is to have any hope of effectively filling those needs, the first thing it must do is get labour relations in order.
Only then will commuters enjoy a truly reliable system. --------------------------------------------------------
Its unreasonable to think that labour difficulties can be completely eliminated. Even if we make transit an essential service, there is nothing to stop a wildcat strike. By its very definition, such a work stoppage is illegal. All we can do is try to make a working environment where employees are safe, happy, and paid well for their troubles. ...And no, we can't just fire them all and start over. Everyone hates it when the cashier they get at the grocery store is a trainee. They will likely be very slow and make mistakes. Do you want a fleet of large vehicles being driven entirely by trainees?
For GO's specific case, they should be, and are, looking at the contract they have with the railways on the train operation.
Railway engineers are only allowed to drive trains on the subdivisions they are qualified for. If an engineer is qualified only for the Lakeshore line, they cannot transfer over to another line on a pinch. This is all fine and good if you have enough crews. Problems arise when there is a shortage of crews - people cannot be moved around the system. CN should either qualify their operators for more subdivisions, or simply do what it takes to ensure that there are more crews available so trains don't have to be cancelled when crews can't report to work. CP doesn't have the problem of crews being unable to switch lines, as only on GO rail line runs on CP trackage.
In order to remedy this, GO has called for operators to bid on the contract to operate all trains. Veolia Transportation (the VIVA operator) and Bombardier have been identified as possible bidders, and CN and CP can still bid, but if GO wants to reduce delays due to staffing issues, they must play hardball. A penalty should have to be paid if the operator cannot perform their duties.
When it comes to the bus fleet, there's a shortage of operators at both the TTC and GO transit. Increased recruitment is the answer, but it takes time to train new bus drivers, and fast-tracking them isn't a good idea. I suppose sometimes a little patience needs to be had by all, and things need to be kept in perspective. A dozen runs may seem like alot, but is pale in comparison to the hundreds of runs made every rush hour of every day.
Labels: GO Transit, union/management
Another DRT update
Yesterday, CAW Local 222 member voted to accept the tentative agreement, officially bringing the Durham Region Transit strike to an end. Limited service will be restored on Friday, with full service returning on Saturday. According to news agencies and the DRT website, passengers holding October monthly passes can trade them in for one free month of transit (November or December) and get 10 free tickets as a bonus. It's a pretty sweet deal, but I hope it doesn't set a precedence that will come back and bite them in the butt.
Labels: durham region transit, union/management
DRT update
News agencies are reporting that Durham Region Transit and the CAW Local 222 have reached a tentative agreement that will end the 4 week old strike. If it is ratified, buses could be back on the streets by thursday.
In the next few weeks, I will present an exclusive expose on the DRT strike by a DRT rider. Stay tuned.
Labels: durham region transit, union/management
Island Airport Follies
Today, the brand new Island Airport ferry crashed into the dock on its maiden voyage. The Port Authority says that the captain had a medical
emergency, possibly caused by an
anxiety attack due to the fireworks and coloured smoke which were set off to mark the celebrations. No one was hurt, but the Port Authority
definitely has egg on its face. I'm not one of the conspiracy types, but is it possible that Olivia Chow, David Miller, and another group of shadowy conspirators were behind this event?
In other news, the
DRT strike is in its sixth day, with no progress.
DRT management did hold a charity golf
tournament today, the timing of which is unfortunate, but its for charity, for crying out loud.
Labels: durham region transit, island airport, union/management
DRT update
Various news agencies are reporting that talks between management and the union have broken down, and that unless a miracle occurs, DRT will be on strike as of 6:00 pm today. It is unclear if passengers on the bus at 6:00 will be accomodated, but I have serious doubts. Usually when a transit agency goes on strike, the service stops at the end of the day. It's very odd to call a strike which begins at rush hour, but I must admit, it is a very good tactic. While it does open operators up to backlash when the passenger becomes stranded in the middle of nowhere, it definitly ups the chaos factor, which is what a good labour strike does.
Labels: durham region transit, union/management
DRT Dealine Looms
If you live in Durham Region, it may interest you to know that Durham Region Transit may be on strike this friday, if talks between the region and the CAW fail to resolve the contract disputes. This strike would not affect service in Whitby, as the former Whitby Transit was, and still is contracted out. More updates when the come available, but if DRT does strike, consider taking GO Transit services if you can get to the Highway 2 corridor.
Labels: durham region transit, union/management
GO Train Crews: Past, Present & Future
On friday, many news agencies covered a rather interesting story about GO Transit's crews and on time performance. Today, a follow up article appeared in the Star.
When GO Transit first began operating commuter rail service, the only rails it owned were at it's Willowbrook Yard in Mimico. Because it ran on rails owned by CN Rail - and in the case of the Milton line, CP Rail - it was cheaper to get CN and CP crews to operate the trains, rather than train their own crews. This setup lasted for years.
Currently, GO has built some of it's own lines to bypass heavy freight areas, and has purchased rail lines which the freight companies have abandonned due to insuffecient freight traffic. However, they still use CN and CP crews because for the most part, the trains operate on CN and CP tracks.
The story on friday stated that the CN and CP crews have been calling in sick (or too tired to legally operate a train) on Fridays in an abnormally high levels. This has affected on time performance, and has even resulted in cancelled trains. This problem is further compounded by CN crew assignment procedure, which states that crews can only operate trains on subdivisions which they are trained for. If a particular crew is only trained on the Lakeshore line, they cannot sub in for a Georgetown crew. As a result, GO will open the operating crew contract to bids.
One of the interested companies is Bombardier, who builds GO's coaches and hold their maintenance contract. According to the article, they are looking to add growth to the operations side of their business. Another company is Veolia Transportation, formally known as Connex, who you might recognize as the operators of VIVA. When you consider that VIVA went from and idea to the streets in record time, its clear that Veolia's has a good reputation in the GTA.
It will take 18 months for GO to negotiate an end to the contract and get Transport Canada's permission to get a third party operator, but according to GO officials, CN and CP will be invited to bid. With massive service increases planned for 2007, this is strictly to ensure good performance for a fare price, GO chair Peter Smith says. The article quotes:
"No. 1 for us is customer service, and achieving that at an affordable rate," said Smith. "This has been in discussions for some time. It is part of our plan to ... get a cost-effective service and to get a reliable service so the public is hopefully guaranteed that we serve them well."
In the end, we will definitly end up with better on time performance, as most contracts like this have penalty clauses in place if service does not live up to expectations. However, if CN and CP do not win the contract, it may make buying more track time from them in the future difficult. We'll just have to wait and see, but I think that when the status quo isn't working, there comes a time when we need to shake things up.
Labels: GO Transit, union/management
Mo Money
As we speak, the Toronto Transit Commission management is negotiating with the Amalgamated Transit Union over the wildcat strike back in May. According to the TTC, there was a $3 million loss in revenue for that day, and they want it back.
As is generally the case, there are two moral sides to this issue.
- The union did what they did in the name of their members, and it was the right thing to do. They are elected to represent the best interests of the workers, and in their opinion, they did what they had to do to upheld their duty and their moral obligations, regardless of the law. In away, they are a modern robin hood.
- Regardless of what happened, the Union broke the law, and the law is the law is the law. We cannot ignore the laws we don't approve of, and as a result, the Union should be held accountable for their actions.
While I'm known to be fairly leftist (I would need a computer to figure out how many times I've been called a communist), I'm definitely torn on the issue. While unions have done great things in advancing workers rights, working conditions and salary, I have no sympathy for people who knowingly break the law. So, setting morals aside, lets consider the facts of the case.
- Workers have the right to refuse unsafe work, and management must provide personal protective equipment to the workers. A mass strike where drivers refused to work, citing the threat of being assaulted could be justified under those provisions. However....
- The union admits that the strike was caused when daytime workers, having recently been unhappily switched to nights, showed up for their old shifts, and were turned away. The union considered this a lockout, and bus drivers respected the picket lines.
- The courts ruled that this strike was illegal, both at the tribunal level and at appeal.
- In our society, illegal activity is punishable by law.
So, should the union refund the money? Probably, it's the right thing to do. Will they? Not bloody likely. First of all, it's an election year for the union. Any sign of weakness will jeopardize Bob Kinnear's chances if he's running for re-election. Second of all, it's unlikely that the city will force the issue in court, as it will make labour relations worse. We're in a good labour spot right now, so I wouldn't be surprised if this issue drops off the public radar without a solution.
Labels: ttc, union/management
