Post by alliehalliwell on Nov 12, 2009 23:57:59 GMT -5
Okay, my question to all of you is this - when is enough, enough when it comes to pay/benefits for bus drivers and transit operators?
I ask this because my city (500,000 people) relies hugely on the transit. Its just the bus, no monorail, trolleys, or subway. Just the bus. The bus driver's get a STARTING salary of $23/hr, and they have benefits. So even with this, they're going on strike next week. It's a total shut down of the bus system.
The last negotiations, the big wigs in the transit system offered them a starting salary of $25/hr . It was rejected. According to all the news reports and the press release from the Union rep, they're asking for a 15% increase over 3 years. Um...YEAH. This city cannot afford that. As it is we pay $2.75 for the bus fare and they do not deliver at all.
Everyone (even strangers) have told me how horrible the bus system is here. I've overheard college students talking and saying things like "Oh they were advertising about how wonderful the buses are in this city but they never show up, or when they do they're 15 minutes late, all the time." It's true too. My bus arrives at my stop at 8:05am every day like clockwork. The bus is actually supposed to get there at 7:45am. Everyday. If I miss that, the next bus is supposed to show at 8:20am...it arrives at 8:45am. Totally inconsistent and horrible because if I have to catch the second bus, it makes me late for work. So that's why I give myself an hour and a half to get to work in the morning - my building is only a 10 minute drive from here.
I have repeatedly seen drivers say things like "There's no room" to people in wheelchairs because they don't want to deal with strapping them into the safety locks. They refuse passage sometimes even if there is room - they just don't bother asking people at the front to move to the back, to free up the handicapped spaces. By law, they have to. We've complained constantly about this. My friend, whose a care worker for someone with cystic fibrosis says she gets denied by drivers all the time for no reason. She totally understand if the bus is full with other wheelchair-bound people or if the bus is jammed packed with a few dozen people standing, but that's rarely the case.
Also, a colleague of mine was hit by a bus that ran through a red light. She jumped back at the last minute and the driver clipped her arm. He opened the door and yelled at her. She demanded his name and bus number. He thought she was bluffing and she reported him. The bus depot asked her to come down, she did, and they tried to silence her with a two free bus tickets. Oh and yeah, they told her that the driver she reported had 15 other complaints that day, some as early in the morning. When my colleague got it, it was late afternoon. SO that means, they knew the driver was unsafe or a maniac but let him finish the day out.
Yeah, these are just a FEW examples. Talking with my colleagues, I'm finding more and more problems with the buses. SO, when I say the drivers don't 'deliver' its because many of them are unprofessional and sometimes downright dangerous.
And of course, with services like this, they're asking for a giant wage increase? In THIS economy?!
Everyone in the city is angry with this, even some of the non-bus bound people. Its greedy in my opinion. My mom's told me about nurses who just get that amount of pay, and they wipe people's asses, deal with alzeheimer patients and put up with physical abuse as its unfortunately a part of the job if an old man gets scared and confused and lashes out (my mom got punched in the face once)...nurses are treated like crap, do more than a lot of doctors, and get little pay while holding their heads high and saving lives. Some firemen in this province get as low as $17/hr and they're saving lives...
So why do the bus drivers feel the need to get $26/hr or more? I too work a stressful job, have people yelling at me all day, but I don't expect that much. Especially since people are fighting over minimum wage jobs because everyone is desperate.
So, since the drivers/union isn't getting what they want, they're going on strike monday. 90% of my office takes the bus and we're scattered all over the city and have different shifts. We've set up a board for people to write "need a ride" or "give a ride" to help carpooling. 3 people put up "give a ride" but they're for really early shifts and for one area of the city. Not one single person on the "need a ride" list lives around there and since we're all scattered, we're not close enough to save money on cab fare.
For me, next week, since I start at 11am, I'm walking everyday to work. It only takes 1 hr. On the way back I have to cab it because I don't want to walk home and be murdered. If I were to take a cab there to and from work, it'd be about 48% of my daily pay going to cab fares. So, for at least two weeks I'll be screwed. I don't get paid enough to cover cab fares, my work isn't good enough to give out cab vouchers but I understand as my building employs 500 people. It'd be astronomical prices. In December, I know I can get some rides but not right now.
Hopefully the strike won't last long, but the Ottawa bus strike last year lasted 50 days. I'm really worried and angry about this. If I have to pay to get to work then I can't really afford Christmas...it's a common fear for everyone. Some even said they'll probably get fired because they have no way to get to work. So workers, college students, high school students...we're all looking for ways to get where we're going and few of us can afford this. The drivers are holding us hostage and so far, they only seem greedy and haven't expressed any concern about what's going to happen with us.
I ask this because my city (500,000 people) relies hugely on the transit. Its just the bus, no monorail, trolleys, or subway. Just the bus. The bus driver's get a STARTING salary of $23/hr, and they have benefits. So even with this, they're going on strike next week. It's a total shut down of the bus system.
The last negotiations, the big wigs in the transit system offered them a starting salary of $25/hr . It was rejected. According to all the news reports and the press release from the Union rep, they're asking for a 15% increase over 3 years. Um...YEAH. This city cannot afford that. As it is we pay $2.75 for the bus fare and they do not deliver at all.
Everyone (even strangers) have told me how horrible the bus system is here. I've overheard college students talking and saying things like "Oh they were advertising about how wonderful the buses are in this city but they never show up, or when they do they're 15 minutes late, all the time." It's true too. My bus arrives at my stop at 8:05am every day like clockwork. The bus is actually supposed to get there at 7:45am. Everyday. If I miss that, the next bus is supposed to show at 8:20am...it arrives at 8:45am. Totally inconsistent and horrible because if I have to catch the second bus, it makes me late for work. So that's why I give myself an hour and a half to get to work in the morning - my building is only a 10 minute drive from here.
I have repeatedly seen drivers say things like "There's no room" to people in wheelchairs because they don't want to deal with strapping them into the safety locks. They refuse passage sometimes even if there is room - they just don't bother asking people at the front to move to the back, to free up the handicapped spaces. By law, they have to. We've complained constantly about this. My friend, whose a care worker for someone with cystic fibrosis says she gets denied by drivers all the time for no reason. She totally understand if the bus is full with other wheelchair-bound people or if the bus is jammed packed with a few dozen people standing, but that's rarely the case.
Also, a colleague of mine was hit by a bus that ran through a red light. She jumped back at the last minute and the driver clipped her arm. He opened the door and yelled at her. She demanded his name and bus number. He thought she was bluffing and she reported him. The bus depot asked her to come down, she did, and they tried to silence her with a two free bus tickets. Oh and yeah, they told her that the driver she reported had 15 other complaints that day, some as early in the morning. When my colleague got it, it was late afternoon. SO that means, they knew the driver was unsafe or a maniac but let him finish the day out.
Yeah, these are just a FEW examples. Talking with my colleagues, I'm finding more and more problems with the buses. SO, when I say the drivers don't 'deliver' its because many of them are unprofessional and sometimes downright dangerous.
And of course, with services like this, they're asking for a giant wage increase? In THIS economy?!
Everyone in the city is angry with this, even some of the non-bus bound people. Its greedy in my opinion. My mom's told me about nurses who just get that amount of pay, and they wipe people's asses, deal with alzeheimer patients and put up with physical abuse as its unfortunately a part of the job if an old man gets scared and confused and lashes out (my mom got punched in the face once)...nurses are treated like crap, do more than a lot of doctors, and get little pay while holding their heads high and saving lives. Some firemen in this province get as low as $17/hr and they're saving lives...
So why do the bus drivers feel the need to get $26/hr or more? I too work a stressful job, have people yelling at me all day, but I don't expect that much. Especially since people are fighting over minimum wage jobs because everyone is desperate.
So, since the drivers/union isn't getting what they want, they're going on strike monday. 90% of my office takes the bus and we're scattered all over the city and have different shifts. We've set up a board for people to write "need a ride" or "give a ride" to help carpooling. 3 people put up "give a ride" but they're for really early shifts and for one area of the city. Not one single person on the "need a ride" list lives around there and since we're all scattered, we're not close enough to save money on cab fare.
For me, next week, since I start at 11am, I'm walking everyday to work. It only takes 1 hr. On the way back I have to cab it because I don't want to walk home and be murdered. If I were to take a cab there to and from work, it'd be about 48% of my daily pay going to cab fares. So, for at least two weeks I'll be screwed. I don't get paid enough to cover cab fares, my work isn't good enough to give out cab vouchers but I understand as my building employs 500 people. It'd be astronomical prices. In December, I know I can get some rides but not right now.
Hopefully the strike won't last long, but the Ottawa bus strike last year lasted 50 days. I'm really worried and angry about this. If I have to pay to get to work then I can't really afford Christmas...it's a common fear for everyone. Some even said they'll probably get fired because they have no way to get to work. So workers, college students, high school students...we're all looking for ways to get where we're going and few of us can afford this. The drivers are holding us hostage and so far, they only seem greedy and haven't expressed any concern about what's going to happen with us.
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