Haydain Neale, 1970–2009
The Making of a Medley
Transit City and Transit Cities
The Daily Photoist: November 23, 2009
Cracks in union resolve as strike nears Week 4 (Toronto Star): "More than 520 striking city employees have decided to cross their own picket lines and go back to work, city officials say. And some pickets are refusing to enforce the union's mandatory wait times for residents lining up to drop off garbage at temporary sites, calling the delays 'stupid.'" [More from CTV.]
Tensions rise at temporary garbage dumps (Globe and Mail): "The tension between the city and Toronto's 24,000 striking municipal workers continues to mount: Sunday evening, the city announced it had taken its third legal action against the striking workers, with Ontario Superior Court granting a temporary injunction allowing the city to clear the garbage that has been illegally dumped outside the Ingram transfer station."
Man dragged through west-end Toronto by train (CTV): "Toronto police were called to a downtown train yard early Monday morning, after getting a 911 call from a man whose leg was being dragged along the tracks."
Could Pearson and environs become an entertainment hotspot? (National Post): "'So many people come to Toronto but they stay at a hotel by the airport. So, for many travellers, Toronto is the part around the airport. Somewhere in the shimmering distance, maybe, they get a glimpse of the CN Tower,' says Toronto’s unofficial flâneur Shawn Micallef, senior editor of Spacing magazine"
Legal aid boycott grows over paltry paycheques (Toronto Star): "Strict billing caps and meagre hourly rates are fuelling a rapidly growing legal aid boycott in Ontario. It began June 1 in Toronto, where more than 300 criminal lawyers stopped accepting legal aid certificates for homicide and guns and gangs cases."
Landmark buildings recall era when city went crazy for Deco (Toronto Star): "In its soul, Toronto may once have been Gothic, but in its heart, it was Deco."
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i don't understand why no one's organized groups to pickett the picketters.
circle them, march with signs, delay their ability to leave or join the pickett line.
or bring drums and just sit there making noise, irritating them.
let them know that the public is fed up with them
People don't generally march in the streets over an inconvenience. Having said that, let's be clear that the strikers don't give a shit about the citizens -- they WANT the public to be fed up with them. The more fed up people get, the more likely it is that the province will bring back-to-work legislation, where the arbitrator will almost certainly award them what they want.
just a little note to make people "happy" (depends if co-suffering makes one happy).
all strikers had their drug plans suspended due to the strike.
its been 4 weeks of striking. people's medications are coming due.
its potentially a huge out-of-pocket expense for strikers to pay for their prescription medication. having to spend $200-300/month on cardiovascular medication or $140 on your child's asthma inhalers is probably enough to make some more strikers buckle.
Good point, Atomeyes. It's also the case that City workers are likely similar to others throughout North America in terms of their debt obligations and spending/saving habits. I'm willing to bet that many of them will be in an at least somewhat deserpate situation by the time August 1 rolls around and rent/mortgage payments come due.
I will never accept that this sort of behaviour is anything but self-indulgent power-tripping and petty thuggery. They've withdrawn their services. As picketers, they should be encouraging their fellow workers to stay on strike, watching out for the illegal use of replacement workers by the employer, and promoting their cause to the public. Acting like officious border security wannabes ought to be beneath their dignity — yay to those who've decided that it is.