What are you going to do during the Calgary Transit strike?

[Super_Geo]

Now that the strike vote is official, how are you guys planning on getting to work? Especially if you're downtown? Just curious...

[eb0i]

This is probably a good time for all those who want to lose weight to bike/walk to work:thumbsup:

[tictactoe2004]

I never take it, so i guess im lucky.... i feel bad for people that don't/can't drive to work.

[euro_racer]

Originally posted by tictactoe2004
I never take it, so i guess im lucky.... i feel bad for people that don't/can't drive to work.

:werd: same here

[403Gemini]

... anybody live in the far SW work 9-5 downtown around 6th ave 3rd street? haha

[sneek]

I had to take transit last week and it was fantastic. I was being rubbed by 7 guys at the same time. It also smelled wonderful too, just this awesome combination of BO and AXE. I hope I never take transit again. It's too bad that T&T Honda is T3H suck, because their shuttle now goes to the train station. Once every hour. At least their courtesy cars aren't too expensive.

[Euro_Trash]

Have to get from Okotoks to Bankers Hall... hopefully can get a ride with a coworker

[Rx7]

im cringing just at the thoughts of the traffic jams :barf:

[jf97talon]

They voted for strike... but have they given their 72 hour notice???


I have no clue what im doing, i live in Chestermere and have to get to the Telus building d.t

[ken-gsr]

no apparentely they have a meeting next Thursday will all of the transit workers, then after that they will give there 72 hours notice. Atleast we should still have one more week of normal traffic.

[l8braker]

Walking from the beltline to downtown and burn off all the cals from the beer I drank during the Flames (short) playoff run.

[88CRXGUY]

I ain't going to do anything because I don't take transit. Well I am taking it downtown today because we all know that parking down there blows..I hope that it doesn't go on for too long, in the end the people that lose is the people that take the bus. I think that Bronconier should stop bitching about not getting the expansion to the LRT and fix the transit problems that are here now.

[rc2002]

Sounds like this strike isn't going to affect many people, aside from some additional traffic on the roads. Won't affect me any either.

[BigMass]

Originally posted by richardchan2002
Sounds like this strike isn't going to affect many people, aside from some additional traffic on the roads. Won't affect me any either.

the additional traffic on the roads is going to me monsterous though. Forget about getting a parking spot in downtown

[rc2002]

Monthly passes FTW. :) As long as you don't leave during peak hours, I bet you'll barely notice a difference in traffic.

[asuth077]

They have said that they don't plan on doing an all-out strike, just rotating the outtages at either 1/4 or 1/2 force. This way the entire city doesn't hate the union (they want you to hate the city for not paying them more).

I would guess that the LRT is a priority and will be running. Either by not being included by the union in the strike, or by non-union transit workers (there are a few).

That is just my opinion though.

[TimG]

same thing i always do: drive to the LRT station before everyone else is even awake and get a seat on the train

[Super_Geo]

Can a mod combine 'walk' and 'walk from home' into one? Haha early mornings... :zzz:

[eb0i]

Originally posted by asuth077
They have said that they don't plan on doing an all-out strike, just rotating the outtages at either 1/4 or 1/2 force. This way the entire city doesn't hate the union (they want you to hate the city for not paying them more).


Too late now, the city has made a move to lock out transit workers within 72 hours! No buses at all on Monday!

[Super_Geo]

Originally posted by eb0i


Too late now, the city has made a move to lock out transit workers within 72 hours! No buses at all on Monday!

What really? Crazy! Where did you hear this?

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by Super_Geo


What really? Crazy! Where did you hear this?


http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/2007/05/04/4154525.html

from http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&threadid=173557&perpage=40&pagenumber=6

[topmade]

^ Page moved

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2007/05/04/4154525.html

"The city has drawn up plans to lock out transit workers to head off a potential transit strike sources tell the Sun.

John Hubbell, the city's manager of transportation, will announce the city strategy this afternoon, which will allow the city to lock out the transit union's 2,265 workers after giving 72 hours notice."

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: for the lockout. If they are going to make transit users suffer why should they get time to save up some money for the strike, make them suffer too.

[guessboi]

drive half way and bike to DT. I am gonna park my bike at a friend's shop. hahaha. :D

[~Leah~]

I live DT but don't work here.... I'm working from about 8:15-5:30 every day so if someone wants to rent out my spot for a small fee, I'd be down.

[pinoyhero]

Here's what I'm doing ... not believeing that they are actually striking.

Unions are the evil of a free market and are basically manipulative tools that rarely benefit workers in the long run. I mean seriously what are these guys after an extra $.20 an hour and for that they are going to accept useless "strike pay" of $5 an hour for who knows how long, that just bad math.

If the people doing the job dont like it, or the pay, then they should quit and find something else, its literally that simple. That would translate into the city having to pay more to keep workers and hence the problem will fix itself.

What we have here are unions, distorting and holding up the process for people that:
a. would like to pay for the service of transit
b. would like to work as a transit worker but can't now
c. would like to step into the role of a transit worker if others were to quit
d. would make the rationale decision to pay more to keep employees if they were able to take market signals of labour supply and demand properly

There is a grave misconception that unions, "help the lone worker in the face of adversity of a big corporation" where as in reality they simply distort labour markets rarley doing less harm than good in the long run.

[TrevorK]

Originally posted by pinoyhero
Here's what I'm doing ... not believeing that they are actually striking.

Unions are the evil of a free market and are basically manipulative tools that rarely benefit workers in the long run.


Unions are extremely beneficial to employees.

For example, Superstore employees, even part timers, receive a pension plan that the employer contributes to. I've yet to come across a non-union job that does that.


I'm not a fan of unions, but to say they don't benefit workers is completely wrong.

[pinoyhero]

^My friend you are not well informed, I would argue that employer contribution pension plans are stardard fare in a number of industries that aren't unionized.

As a part time employee I ask ... what is the true net benefit you get from the employers contrbution vs. your union dues? Lets leave the fact that you might be foreced out of a job for a strike and not paid based on merit but seniority aside for now...

And, aside from that, what are the other "extremely benefical" items?

[Si_FlyGuy]

Originally posted by TrevorK


Unions are extremely beneficial to employees.

For example, Superstore employees, even part timers, receive a pension plan that the employer contributes to. I've yet to come across a non-union job that does that.


I'm not a fan of unions, but to say they don't benefit workers is completely wrong.

Pinoy's right. It's quite common to have employer contributed pension plans. For instance, many companies I know of will match employee contributions by 1.5 times. For instance employee contributes 10%, the employer tosses in an extra 15%.

[pinoyhero]

^Thanks for the support on that topic ... I'm still waiting for an argument "for" unions...

[Canmorite]

Living downtown its not a big deal.

If I were away from downtown I would look at carpooling, biking (depending how far it is) or renting out the STARS or Global 1 helicopter. That cutie in Global 1 would be nice to sit next to on the way to work :love:

[Si_FlyGuy]

Originally posted by Canmorite
Living downtown its not a big deal.

If I were away from downtown I would look at carpooling, biking (depending how far it is) or renting out the STARS or Global 1 helicopter. That cutie in Global 1 would be nice to sit next to on the way to work :love:

Which cutie? I suspect that you're going to use the rotor noise as an excuse that you didn't hear her say "no". :rofl: :rofl:

[pinoyhero]

^ Haha, kinda odd that you live downtown but dont work there, that must be a rarity.

Back to my posts ... unions are good for...

[kevie88]

Motorcycles FTW!!!! WOOOT

[pinoyhero]

Good for now, just hope it doesn't snow in may... Oh wait...

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

My job depends on me driving do a different site everyday... and one of those is DT next week... the guy has to book me into the parking lot below his appt so I can do my job lol

[ZEDGE]

Well this sucks.. I start downtown on the 28th.. I hope they sort it out before then... :D

[TrevorK]

Originally posted by pinoyhero
^My friend you are not well informed, I would argue that employer contribution pension plans are stardard fare in a number of industries that aren't unionized.

Please enlighten me as to RPP's that are being offerred to non-unionized employees. Public sector makes up almost 50% of the people using RPP's, and most of the public sector is unionized. This would demonstrate that, off the start, you have almost have of the RPP-related workforce in unions. This isn't even taking into consideration the other 50%.

Further, as an example, at my employer there are only about 10% (maybe a little less) or our 3000 employees that are not unionized but have a pension plan.

I would recommend reading the following link, dated as of 2000, however would still have much valuable reading information:
http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection-R/Statcan/74-401-XIB/0000074-401-XIB.pdf



As a part time employee I ask ... what is the true net benefit you get from the employers contrbution vs. your union dues? Lets leave the fact that you might be foreced out of a job for a strike and not paid based on merit but seniority aside for now...

And, aside from that, what are the other "extremely benefical" items?

Here is what I experienced while working part time at a union job (grocery):
1) If someone higher than you on the seniority list is called in for shifts without calling you first, you apply to the union to be reimbursed as they are to call on seniority.
2) Once you have passed through probation you are allowed to set your availability to whatever you want (One guy worked 4 hours a week) without worry of being fired.
3) Set rules and guidelines. This is a big one that encompasses many things: Schedules have to be out by a certain date, no changes without prior approval (Even a week away), regularly scheduled wage increases
4) Pension (And you don't even have to contribute to it)
5) Dental
6) Drug/Vision plan
7) Various short/long term disability plans

I'm sure there are many more, but I've only gone through the ones that I remember.

[Disoblige]

Originally posted by sneek
I had to take transit last week and it was fantastic. I was being rubbed by 7 guys at the same time. It also smelled wonderful too, just this awesome combination of BO and AXE. I hope I never take transit again. It's too bad that T&T Honda is T3H suck, because their shuttle now goes to the train station. Once every hour. At least their courtesy cars aren't too expensive.

That made me lol for real. And no kidding. I get off the transit and the city smells like heaven. Didn't take it transit for about a year since I got my car and took it again last week heading to the library. Felt like dying. And buses, don't get me started.

[pinoyhero]

Originally posted by TrevorK


Please enlighten me as to RPP's that are being offerred to non-unionized employees. Public sector makes up almost 50% of the people using RPP's, and most of the public sector is unionized. This would demonstrate that, off the start, you have almost have of the RPP-related workforce in unions. This isn't even taking into consideration the other 50%.

Further, as an example, at my employer there are only about 10% (maybe a little less) or our 3000 employees that are not unionized but have a pension plan.

I would recommend reading the following link, dated as of 2000, however would still have much valuable reading information:
http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection-R/Statcan/74-401-XIB/0000074-401-XIB.pdf




Here is what I experienced while working part time at a union job (grocery):
1) If someone higher than you on the seniority list is called in for shifts without calling you first, you apply to the union to be reimbursed as they are to call on seniority.
2) Once you have passed through probation you are allowed to set your availability to whatever you want (One guy worked 4 hours a week) without worry of being fired.
3) Set rules and guidelines. This is a big one that encompasses many things: Schedules have to be out by a certain date, no changes without prior approval (Even a week away), regularly scheduled wage increases
4) Pension (And you don't even have to contribute to it)
5) Dental
6) Drug/Vision plan
7) Various short/long term disability plans

I'm sure there are many more, but I've only gone through the ones that I remember. [/B]

There's the well thought out response I was hoping for ...

-On your point about RPP and DCPP, it is not uncommon at all that compaines contribute to non-unionized employee pension plans. I'm not sure what your question is so all we can really do is leave that point. One final though however, a non-unionized employee at least has the option of negotating a slightly higher pay level that will offset the DCPP of the unionized worker who is paid on a very strict, non-merit based pay scale.
-On your math, you state that 50% of people with RPPs are in public sector then the other half of people with RPPs are in the provate sector. If 90% of the public is unionized and 50% of the private sector is unionzed then that leaves 30% of the workforce who have RPPs, non unionized. FYI that means 3 of every 10 workers with RPPs are non-union, not an insignificant number. Again, those without can refer to my previous agrument.
-Not sure what your getting at with your example, but if 10% of your workforce is non-unionized and has an RPP, that's 300 employees, how many are unionized? Regardless these out of scope employees may not be full-time, they may be contractors, they may make way more money, that stat does not have a ton of relevance.

-On your points:
1. Do you want to be called or not? Are the supposed to call on seniorty or not?
2. Working 4 hours a week is a waste of time, why should a company have to spend hundreds hiring and training just to have some clown ask to barely work, would you think that was a good idea if you were trying to run a profitable business? Further would you want the employee who is working for you telling you when they were going to work? They applied to work for you afterall.
3. I'll just tackle the wage one, cause your point is so general. Would you not want at least a 10% raise if another individual in your role got a 9% raise and dragged his ass all day? Who cares about structuire raises, if you're not getting paid enough you always have the option to walk acorss the street and test the job market to see if you are getting paid fairly. The labour market should work like any other.
4. We've already covered this, how much are you getting really? Is it tied to your income. I'm assuming its a small percentage of your salary. After union dues how much are you really up?
5. 6. 7. Non-union employers offer this stuff man, you think the entire workforce downtown have no benefits? Come on, employers there know that to attract and retain good employees they have to offer a competitive total compensation package.

Don't get me started on the losses you'll incur if you are forced to strike!

[TrevorK]

Originally posted by pinoyhero
-On your points:
1. Do you want to be called or not? Are the supposed to call on seniorty or not?

Regardless of whether you want to or not, the union forces the employer to call those with seniority first. That is a benefit of the union that is not in the private sector.


2. Working 4 hours a week is a waste of time, why should a company have to spend hundreds hiring and training just to have some clown ask to barely work, would you think that was a good idea if you were trying to run a profitable business? Further would you want the employee who is working for you telling you when they were going to work? They applied to work for you afterall.

Again, that was a value the union adds in. You may not feel that an employer finds it valuable, however it may be valueable to potential employees and again, is not commonly found in private sector.


3. I'll just tackle the wage one, cause your point is so general. Would you not want at least a 10% raise if another individual in your role got a 9% raise and dragged his ass all day?

Again, this is something that some people want and isn't offered in the private sector. It may not appeal to you, but to many people it is very appealing.


Who cares about structuire raises, if you're not getting paid enough you always have the option to walk acorss the street and test the job market to see if you are getting paid fairly. The labour market should work like any other.

Again, I think you're missing the point. Just because you don't believe it has value to you and your situation, doesn't mean it's not a value to the employees.

Back in the late 90's you could make 35K working at Superstore stocking shelves. You would be hard pressed to find this wage elsewhere, doing similar work, in a non-unionized environment.

The bottom line is that regularly scheduled raises is a benefit to many employees, because they do not have the motivation to try and further themselves. Especially during a time of economic hardship.


4. We've already covered this, how much are you getting really? Is it tied to your income. I'm assuming its a small percentage of your salary. After union dues how much are you really up?

The pension is all free money, so I'm up the entire amount.

If you're stating that the money they give me here is offset by what the union dues are, then I would suggest that the union provides other benefits.

How many private sector companies offer a pension plan that is fully funded by the employer?


5. 6. 7. Non-union employers offer this stuff man, you think the entire workforce downtown have no benefits? Come on, employers there know that to attract and retain good employees they have to offer a competitive total compensation package.

Until the recent economic boom it was hard to find employers that would even pay Alberta Health Care. Further, many people today still don't have eye care packages or 100% prescription packages.

On top of that, how many part time jobs offer this sort of benefit that aren't unionized? How many full time jobs that require the same education / skill level as say, Superstore, offer these benefits?

If you want to get into further benefits of a union environment we can discuss Canada Post, whereby you are pay $50K/year to walk outside for 4-6 hours a day.

[Lex350]

just like the last strike, I'm going to flip them the finger everytime I pass their picket line....they're just a bunch of over-paid jack-asses anyway that have no concept of customer service.

[calgarygts]

I haven't driven or taken transit for about a year now, so no effect on me (bicycle FTW).

[pinoyhero]

Originally posted by TrevorK


Regardless of whether you want to or not, the union forces the employer to call those with seniority first. That is a benefit of the union that is not in the private sector.

So what if the senior employee isnt as hard a worker? Why should a lazy worker get the opportunity first, as a business owner would you want that?

[/b]

Again, that was a value the union adds in. You may not feel that an employer finds it valuable, however it may be valueable to potential employees and again, is not commonly found in private sector.

OK sure, the union gives the employee the opportunity to be basically useless (i.e. works 4 hours a week) yet maintain his job and be the source of expensive admin. Great!

[/b]

Again, this is something that some people want and isn't offered in the private sector. It may not appeal to you, but to many people it is very appealing.

Great again, if you are a lazy ass bastard who doesn't believe in the concept of getting what you deserve, again a major drain on business.

[/b]

Again, I think you're missing the point. Just because you don't believe it has value to you and your situation, doesn't mean it's not a value to the employees.

Back in the late 90's you could make 35K working at Superstore stocking shelves. You would be hard pressed to find this wage elsewhere, doing similar work, in a non-unionized environment.

The bottom line is that regularly scheduled raises is a benefit to many employees, because they do not have the motivation to try and further themselves. Especially during a time of economic hardship.

Why do you think they have no motivation ... because they dont need to work to get a raise ... come on.

[/b]

The pension is all free money, so I'm up the entire amount.

If you're stating that the money they give me here is offset by what the union dues are, then I would suggest that the union provides other benefits.

How many private sector companies offer a pension plan that is fully funded by the employer?

Again, how much is your pension vs. your union dues?

[/b]

Until the recent economic boom it was hard to find employers that would even pay Alberta Health Care. Further, many people today still don't have eye care packages or 100% prescription packages.

On top of that, how many part time jobs offer this sort of benefit that aren't unionized? How many full time jobs that require the same education / skill level as say, Superstore, offer these benefits?

If you want to get into further benefits of a union environment we can discuss Canada Post, whereby you are pay $50K/year to walk outside for 4-6 hours a day.

Come on bro, we live in Calgary, yes its May and yes is nice out so great, postal delivery is a sweet job, but in the winter ...
[/B]

[pinoyhero]

I'll just leave it at this. I'm a capitalist, you are a socialist, I believe in people getting what they deserve and not getting hand outs, you don't. I've demonstrated that unions are great for people like you and hence I'm not a fan, and you are.

Answer me this ... when you're kid is in school and the kid next to him gets an A cause he studied his ass off and your kid gets a B because he didn't, are you going to talk to the teacher and say, "My kid has been in 5th grade for 3 years now, he should get an A, whereas the kid who is in 5th grade for his first time should be getting the B"??????

[redline]

Question: for those that are going to drive and drive downtown do you have a parking space now and if not do you a think you will be able to get a spot when the strike is on?

[pinoyhero]

^THe sarcasm I'm sensing leads me to believe you think rates should be increased downtown since demand is out doing supply ... its time for a bump

[rage2]

I've had a downtown parking spot for like 9 yrs now... I'm lucky, nothing to worry about except traffic hehe.

[redline]

Originally posted by rage2
I've had a downtown parking spot for like 9 yrs now... I'm lucky, nothing to worry about except traffic hehe.

Me too but with all these wankers on the road getting there is going to be a problem. Well maybe not cause they are going to have to be downtown at 6am to get a spot

[redline]

Originally posted by pinoyhero
^THe sarcasm I'm sensing leads me to believe you think rates should be increased downtown since demand is out doing supply ... its time for a bump

I was not thinking that... damn maybe they will only increase the day rates and not the monthly rates...

I was thinking what are these people going to do with their cars when there is no place to park. On a good day now it is tuff to find a spot, if you dont have a month spot.