City Bus Strike and why they frikkin' suck (rant)

So, I live in Ottawa and the OC Transpo (our public bus service) is going on strike at midnight tonight.

Horrible timing. College/University Students have exams! Some people, including my sister, have to cab tomorrow to get to their schools to write their exams. For my sister, that is a 20 minute cab ride from our house. Imagine what the cost will be!

Why are they striking? Because they "aren't paid enough".

Seriously? Not paid enough? They get over $25 an hour, as many sick and personal days as any other job, and when they work holidays time and a half is over $50 an hour. They make more money than both my parents combined.

They had a strike two years ago and the city made them a 3 year contract offer, a pay increase of 3% the first year, 2% the second year, and another 2% the third year.

I realize the economy is slipping, but they are way overpaid. Their serivce isn't even that great. I like the group on facebook entitled "I don't need sex anymore because OC Transpo ****s me everyday." One bus driver not too long ago told two women who were getting on the bus that only one of them could board because they both had strollers. There is NO rule against more than one stroller being on the bus, and the bus was fairly empty. The 2 or 3 year old child of one of the mothers had already ran onto the bus, and after a bit of an argument, the bus driver closed the door on the two women and drove off....with the child still on the bus. I realize this is just one driver and he doesn't represent the entire company. I have had many bus drivers who were actually really pleasant, but most are dicks to say the least.

We pay $3 to ride the bus if we don't have tickets. If we do, the tickets are $2 for a ride that lasts about and hour and a bit during regular daytime hours. Bus passes are nearly $70 a month, and that's the student discount price. They have raised the prices SO much in the past few years without offering more bus routes and without improving service.

Why are we paying so much for a service like this? Because we don't have another option. They are the only public bus service in Ottawa and they know we need to ride on them, so they charge  us what they want.

I can't get to work or school because of them. I can't go see my friends, boyfriend, go to the gym, or do anything without the bus. Other rely on the buses even more than me. For them to strike because of their "low pay" is extremely selfish.

This has been my rant. :)

And yet - without them your life is screwed.  Seems like they provide a pretty vital service - and while the transit company is drastically raising the price of your tickets, they're giving the drivers 2% and 3% raises (that's not even a cost of living increase)?  Hardly seems fair.   Has the transit company hired more drivers and expanded the routes to justify the fare increase?  The bus drivers don't make those decisions to improve your service - the transit company does.  It sounds like you AND the bus drivers have an issue with the transit company itself.

I have a soft spot in my heart for laborers performing thankless tasks. There are surely better causes than the transit company if the drivers are to do things strictly from an altruistic perspective, and not for a paycheck. 

Actually, it's not just the drivers. It's the entire company. And yes, I rely on their service because I don't have a car and i can't carpool. But that doesn't mean they can screw over all their passengers.

They HAVE NOT improved service or added more bus routes. The drivers dont have an issue with the company, its with the city. The whole company - drivers included - wants to be treated and paid "like city workers" but they dont ACT like city workers. City workers are not allowed to strike like that. They are allowed to strike AT WORK while still doing their jobs. Ex: cops in Quebec that were striking wore their regular day clothes to work. Firefighters (again in Quebec i think) painted all their engines green.

They have so far done nothing but raise ticket and pass prices. We passengers see no benefits to us. And they do not perform thankless tasks. Just because we don't say "thank you" every single time we board a bus does not mean we don't appreciate the service. I don't say "thank you" every time I see a stock boy in a grocery store putting things away on the shelves. I don't say "thank you" every time I notice the mailman delivering mail.

They are striking because they want more sick days, personal days, etc (they get more than most other jobs already), they want higher pay (again, higher than most already), they want fully paid maternity leave (a lot of places dont offer paid maternity leave at all, and the ones that do are certainly NOT 100%), and raising other benefits that they have that are already above the average.

They KNOW they can make the public suffer by striking and they KNOW the city will be pressured to cave. Get THIS...they suggest WALKING AND BIKING (carpooling is their third option). It's been twenty below out the past few days and we just had over 20 cm of snow as well. WALK OR BIKE? AS IF!