Here are my two cents worth about the GO Bus issue:

Yo CUPE, Yo CUPE! I'm really happy for you an' all, and Imma let you finish, but this GO Bus thing is some of the stupidest **** of all time! OF ALL TIME!

(Cue awkward shrug.)

And if Mac is responsible for the GO Bus issue then:

Yo McMaster! Yo McMaster! I'm really happy for you an' all and Imma let you finish, but...(you get the point )

Originally Posted by rrtt

What do you mean by sneak around the back way on Cootes?

Get off the Westbound 403 at #6 and head north, take the first exit onto York Rd and head West - its about 5km (windy road in parts) down to Cootes drive where you take a left and head up the hill to the Mac entrance.

Originally Posted by Jay

Thankfully Bowman & Main as well as Emerson/Main aren't far from campus.

No they aren't, but people aren't paying to be dropped off off campus. Also that GO bus terminal next to Mary Keyes cost money, that didn't get built so it could go to waste because of a stupid union like CUPE.

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

Here are my two cents worth about the GO Bus issue:

Yo CUPE, Yo CUPE! I'm really happy for you an' all, and Imma let you finish, but this GO Bus thing is some of the stupidest **** of all time! OF ALL TIME!

(Cue awkward shrug.)

ROFLMAO.
That made my day.



But seriously, in regards to getting into the back-forty-parking-lot (as I have come to call it - I hate parking there but I deal), head down Cootes drive into Dundas if you can and just go around; there's a separate entry that is on the Southbound side. An earlier poster commented as well on the 403 - that is also an option!

My mom, who is a member of the Revenue Canada workers union (against her choice, mind you), gave me this advice: If they block your car, slowly drive through them without killing anyone. They WILL move.

My mom = major lulz.

Originally Posted by PilotMal

ROFLMAO.


My mom, who is a member of the Revenue Canada workers union (against her choice, mind you), gave me this advice: If they block your car, slowly drive through them without killing anyone. They WILL move.

My mom = major lulz.

Yeah, if anyone actually gets hurt, have fun with your assault charge.

Regardless of whether you agree with CUPE/the Strike, any action that can physically harm another human being is unacceptable.

Also I can't support driving into our TAs.

Maybe if you could only hit CUPE union reps* but you risk hurting your fellow students, thats unacceptable.






*I'm joking btw, I don't actually condone driving your car through/at anyone.

The aim is not to hurt anyone. Jeeze.

As if I would actually do that. What you do is drive slowly, inch forward, and they'll move out of the way - its common freakin' sense. You block me, I will do what I can to get through. They are legally un-able to touch you in any way, and I'm presuming that means my car as well. I want to be able to get to my class on time and not have some stupid union block my way - they're harming the students, when they should be taking their fight to the administration.

How is blocking students getting into the school getting their point across? If anything, thats just going to make us more angry. You can go on and on about undergraduates feeling so self-absorbed and the like, but in truth, why shouldn't I be? I'm spending $20,000 a year so I can get an education; roadblocks (literally, in this case) like this that are impairing my ability to get into class - let alone take full advantage of what I've payed for - are irksome and annoying. I'm not tolerating it at all.

Unions used to make sense when there were no laws to help protect employees at their jobs; there is no use for them now, in my opinion.

And thats my two cents. Terribly sorry if I seem harsh or "uneducated", but I'm sick of unions walking all over people as a way of trying to get their points across.

EDIT: I have NOTHING against TAs. Sure, some of them aren't great, but a majority of mine are and I greatly appreciate the work they do. What I don't support is CUPE and its propaganda-driven initiatives.

Originally Posted by PilotMal

The aim is not to hurt anyone. Jeeze.

As if I would actually do that. What you do is drive slowly, inch forward, and they'll move out of the way - its common freakin' sense. You block me, I will do what I can to get through. They are legally un-able to touch you in any way, and I'm presuming that means my car as well. I want to be able to get to my class on time and not have some stupid union block my way - they're harming the students, when they should be taking their fight to the administration.

I'm pretty sure a guy drove into a picket line and hit a picketer at York. He was charged for assault. As a driver, you are responsible for ensuring that you do not harm people. "I hit a guy with my car and broke his legs because he wouldn't move. They aren't supposed to touch me even though I drove into them!" I don't see that going over well.

But really, who cares about the safety of other people when you're late for class.

Unions used to make sense when there were no laws to help protect employees at their jobs; there is no use for them now, in my opinion.

Not all unions are bad or terrible, some do shitty things but not all of them.

My dad would have gotten fired from his job if he weren't part of a union as they were trying to remove all of the "older guys" and replace them with younger ones during a restructuring effort. During the SARS outbreak, ONA kept on providing nurses with ways/strategies to protect themselves when the Ontario government wasn't providing sufficient information. But you really don't hear about this stuff because it's not exciting enough to be covered in the media.

Originally Posted by Jay

Not all unions are bad or terrible, some do shitty things but not all of them.

My dad would have gotten fired from his job if he weren't part of a union as they were trying to remove all of the "older guys" and replace them with younger ones during a restructuring effort. During the SARS outbreak, ONA kept on providing nurses with ways/strategies to protect themselves when the Ontario government wasn't providing sufficient information. But you really don't hear about this stuff because it's not exciting enough to be covered in the media.

Exactly.

Not all unions are bad. The goal of unions is to protect and fight for workers. In theory that isn't a bad thing, even now when we have laws. New situations always arise and people (shitty employers in particular) always find ways to try and circumvent laws. Having a union on your side to fight for you can be a good thing.

In this instance the union isn't allowing the voices and desires of their union membership to be heard. This is what makes a union situation a bad one. What CUPE started off fighting for were reasonable demands (for the most part) for our TAs, which is fine, that's their job. What we've ended up with is a strike forced upon the union membership without them voting for it, the TAs not being able to vote on the deal McMaster oferred them, and TAs being threatened if they wish to continue helping their students. This is not a good union situation and really if some changes were made and the union made better decisions it could have been a good situation.

I think the problem is is when union's are allowed to become corrupt; just like governments, corporations, and other institutions. There's no honesty in fighting what you believe in any more, because the "Big Guys" aren't in it for you. You may belong to a union or a group or some other sort of institution, and while the fight may seem for the betterment of all, in most cases it is not.

If that makes any sense at all. I'm on a political ramble here.

Not irrelevant at all.

It happens all the time. Self-interest has corrupted just about any group and the people who are supposed to be represented find themselves left out to dry. This is especially prevalent in left-wing causes when the focus is on fighting for the rights of the little man.

Ive never had to deal with a picket line before....what do they do? like stop each car and start to try to talk to you? or do they just block the entrance all together, and if thats the case how is it that mcmaster and the police have told them they can only hinder a vehicle for a max of 5 mins? do they stand in a line and wait 5 mins then move aside and let the car through? like I just don't understand how a line of predestrians stops a whole lineup of cars... doesnt make sense to me... stupid lol.... it already sucks driving an hour to school, now its gonna take twice as long? eww

oh...and... what times do they picket?... like if I usually get to campus at 8am... what if i come to campus earlier? am i going to avoid a picket line? like if i came at 730 instead of 8?