[GCSM]

HSR employees voted 94% in favor of a strike, possible on Jan 30th, depending on how talks between the City and the Union go on the 24th.

Apparently, HSR employees have been without a contract for over a year

http://www.thespec.com/opinion/colum...inter-boots-on

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...ised-to-strike

The union has set up a website here: http://whereisthebus.ca/

What do you guys think??

[hungdaddy]

thats it, im telling their bosses that they always stop to go to tim hortons. why not quit and find another job if they're upset? someone else wouldn't mind their job. instead they're going to disrupt everyone elses lives. and that really grinds my gears

[Jessicaaaa]

every. fricken. year.

[anon491]

Originally Posted by hungdaddy

thats it, im telling their bosses that they always stop to go to tim hortons. why not quit and find another job if they're upset? someone else wouldn't mind their job. instead they're going to disrupt everyone elses lives. and that really grinds my gears

........considering that they drive for so many hours straight with no breaks, I don't care if they stop to grab a coffee or go to the bathroom. Consider how many city workers take extended watercooler or coffee breaks instead of getting their work done, and still get paid really well. Some of the basic things the HSR workers want is just to have the same benefits as the other city workers. And why shouldn't they?


anyway: this will be really inconvenient for those of us living in non-downtown hamilton x|

[ikantsepll]

"Welcome to our website."

Is it just me, or is that video/website a little... terroristy. I guess the beard doesn't help.

Also, wooo mills/student-center allnighter time -__-

[hungdaddy]

Originally Posted by ooburii

........considering that they drive for so many hours straight with no breaks, I don't care if they stop to grab a coffee or go to the bathroom. Consider how many city workers take extended watercooler or coffee breaks instead of getting their work done, and still get paid really well. Some of the basic things the HSR workers want is just to have the same benefits as the other city workers. And why shouldn't they?

im sure their manager doesnt given them any breaks. why shouldnt the have the same benefits? cause theyre driving a freaken bus. not a phsyically or mentally demanding job. how many people who take the hsr to get to work who grind their gears everyday are now gonna have no way of getting there? oh wait, u didnt think about joe plumber. you only think of joe bus driver who's main responsibility in life is telling people to move to the back. and thats what really grinds my gears

[J. Dorey]

Originally Posted by hungdaddy

thats it, im telling their bosses that they always stop to go to tim hortons. why not quit and find another job if they're upset? someone else wouldn't mind their job. instead they're going to disrupt everyone elses lives. and that really grinds my gears

I, personally, don't mind the breaks as much as I do the total jerks that you get. Half of the time, the majority of the drivers don't even make an attempt to crack a smile, let alone look at you! There are the random nice ones, but it seems like they are getting so few and far between.

Anyways, if this isn't resolved, I really don't know how I'll get to school, considering it's a 45 minute - 1 hour bus ride for me every day...

[nomchock]

many hours with no breaks? really? on the 16 in ancaster the driver will re-cuperate at the end of the route for ~10 minutes per route(excluding the rush time of 6-10am and 3-5pm). i'm not saying this is un-neccessary(i dont think anyone could drive for 8+ hours a day 5 days a week for very long) but let's not be dishonest.


on another note, i wonder why don't unions organize by city instead of trade as it stands now? it doesnt make sense for the city to be constantly negotiating contracts for a different sect of workers when they could just make one big "hamilton city worker union" instead of job A union, job B union etc etc ?

[anon491]

Originally Posted by hungdaddy

im sure their manager doesnt given them any breaks. why shouldnt the have the same benefits? cause theyre driving a freaken bus. not a phsyically or mentally demanding job. how many people who take the hsr to get to work who grind their gears everyday are now gonna have no way of getting there? oh wait, u didnt think about joe plumber. you only think of joe bus driver who's main responsibility in life is telling people to move to the back. and thats what really grinds my gears

so you're saying that overtime for bus drivers isn't the same as overtime for office workers/other city employees? or that being harassed by passengers/dealing with poor drivers all day isn't as mentally tiring?
Obviously a lot of people will suffer from a strike, but it's the CITY's fault for not taking negotiations seriously for the past year. It's the city's responsibility to deal with its workers so the general public doesn't have to face these kinds of situations.

[anon491]

btw guys, by many hours with no breaks, CLEARLY I don't know about every single route, geez. Not every single driver is a shining example of a tireless worker, obviously. But there are many who do work hard and make everyone's day just a little better.

[fernancb]

Does anyone else notice the pattern here... Hospitality services, Canada post, Possible GO bus strike (that never happened), HSR...

Ah, the life of a university student, dependent on so many others

[hungdaddy]

Originally Posted by ooburii

so you're saying that overtime for bus drivers isn't the same as overtime for office workers/other city employees? or that being harassed by passengers/dealing with poor drivers all day isn't as mentally tiring?
Obviously a lot of people will suffer from a strike, but it's the CITY's fault for not taking negotiations seriously for the past year. It's the city's responsibility to deal with its workers so the general public doesn't have to face these kinds of situations.

okay guy, this is america love it or leave it. nobody made these people become bus drivers. and nobody is making them stay bus drivers. they should all just grow a pair and quit, instead of making other people's lives harder.

[anon491]

Originally Posted by hungdaddy

okay guy, this is america love it or leave it. nobody made these people become bus drivers. and nobody is making them stay bus drivers. they should all just grow a pair and quit, instead of making other people's lives harder.

looool, I'm pretty sure the last time I checked, I was a girl, this was Canada, and something called "unions" existed.

[BlakeM]

Originally Posted by hungdaddy

...theyre driving a freaken bus. not a phsyically or mentally demanding job

Having driven multiple times for up to 8 hours, including breaks, all I can say is WTF?