Partisan Hobo

TO strike: Different sector, different perspective

I was out of town for a week, so I missed the first days of the Toronto city workers’ strike. When I returned, I was surprised to see that the garbage problem wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be - I’d imagined mountains for rotting garbage on every lawn and corner.

I was more surprised to hear the way that spokespeople, reporters, bloggers, and water-cooler colleagues are talking about the strike. To many of the people I’ve spoken with, or in many of the articles I’ve read, the strike is regarded as a typical labour dispute, with the union fighting for the rights/needs/wants of its workers and the city fighting to protect its bottom line.

To me, the strike is anything but a traditional labour dispute. The city workers are government workers. It’s not like the compensation they are seeking would otherwise be finding its way into some owner/manager/shareholder’s pocket. There IS no profit in a government organization. So where will the resources come from?

This is not to say that the union’s position is wrong. But it is to say that the media coverage and debate about the strike has been woefully superficial. Instead of articles about the city’s financial health and public policy decisions, we get fluff about union tactics, picket line squirmishes, and men-on-the-street.

To cover the issue like it’s a private sector labour disruption is to miss the story completely. City workers want a larger chunk of our tax dollars. Is it in our interest to give it to them? Maybe yes, maybe no - it’d be nice if some reporters and pundits would weigh in on this with facts and insight. It’d be nice if the policy context wasn’t lost completely.

Tags: strike, toronto

2 Comments to TO strike: Different sector, different perspective

1. 

   Come on! It takes like, a whole HOUR to vote! (At least it can, if traffic’s bad and there’s a line-up.) And, and, there’s election commercials, … and people calling you at home to discuss which policies should run the country and boring, stupid stuff like that!

   And, and elections COST MONEY!! (Okay, so does allowing an incompetent gang of scumbags and religious whackos to run the country, but if we just leave them there at least I won’t have to go find a polling station and vote again!)

   Anyways, I think you’re far too complacent about the living-hell that is living through a Canadian election!!!
thwap on August 6th, 2009
2. 

   that was supposed to be for another post of yours!
thwap on August 6th, 2009

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