Reactionary Toronto Transit workers

[Psy]

The recent story of a fight on a streetcar

http://m.citynews.ca/news/Woman-claims-she-was-assaulted-on-streetcar-by-TTC-supervisor/index.php#menu

Shows how reactionary some TTC workers are while the riders did the right thing by defending the rider that the TTC was trying to kick off the streetcar for no good reason. This came the topic today in the break room as everyone knows there are two types of TTC workers the jerks like those in the one in the story that give TTC workers a bad image and causes massive delays over the most insignificant shit and the more rational workers that don't go out of their way to alienate the riders.

What these jerks don't know is if they stop worrying and just go with the flow they will have no problems, this is the wisdom of the older workers that don't even confront riders that don't pay their fair as more time is wasted dealing with them then the fair is worth and of course the golden rule that what management doesn't know what hurt you, management has no way of knowing how many riders paid their way so the most logical solution is just to ignore such "problems".

Of course this incident wasn't even over the fair but over a consumer pointing out their service sucks. And what a way to prove the fact by kicking the rider off for saying it is bad.

[jake williams]

Toronto is a big city. A half dozen incidents involving sharply targetted public workers working tough, dangerous jobs with fewer and fewer labour protections are being blown up by the ultra-right to create a scandal that isn't one.

The more the media tries to whip up a scandal, and the more contempt they can generate for public workers in general and transit workers in particular, the more that TTC workers are going to feel frightened of and alienated from passengers (to some extent, rightly).

[PhoenixAsh]

Well..that is all well and nice. I agree with you that management is to blame ultimately for these kind of situations.

But I say there doesn't need to happen a lot of blowing before this to become a scandal. Because this is pretty ridiculous and scandalous behaviour if you ask me. If the TTC workers want to change their situation they should take it out on management and not on the customers by behaving exactly like assholes.

[Psy]

Toronto is a big city. A half dozen incidents involving sharply targetted public workers working tough, dangerous jobs with fewer and fewer labour protections are being blown up by the ultra-right to create a scandal that isn't one.

The more the media tries to whip up a scandal, and the more contempt they can generate for public workers in general and transit workers in particular, the more that TTC workers are going to feel frightened of and alienated from passengers (to some extent, rightly).

Right but taking it out on riders is not a rational solution it is totally reactionary. For example here if the rider just told the women "yhea I'm late but it is a SNAFU from TTC management" then it would have quickly eased tensions.

[jake williams]

Well..that is all well and nice. I agree with you that management is to blame ultimately for these kind of situations.

But I say there doesn't need to happen a lot of blowing before this to become a scandal. Because this is pretty ridiculous and scandalous behaviour if you ask me. If the TTC workers want to change their situation they should take it out on management and not on the customers by behaving exactly like assholes.
I don't disagree, but TTC workers are in an increasingly difficult situation. The new mayor is promising to make the TTC an "essential service" (effectively banning strikes), and the Liberal provincial government, which will probably be defeated by a more right wing government in the fall, is going along with it.

The very few incidents that the Toronto media, including the "left liberal" media, are trying to make a story out of, while unfortunate, are in many cases understandable. This doesn't justify them, of course, but what we all need to understand is that the most important struggle for the working class right now is to defend public workers and public services. The right wing doesn't need our help in going after them.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

Right but taking it out on riders is not a rational solution it is totally reactionary. For example here if the rider just told the women yhea I'm late but it is a SNAFU from TTC management then it would have quickly eased tensions.

It's not a rational or proper response, no, but what can you do? Everyone can lose their temper sooner or later. It's just as ridiculous for passengers to complain to an operator, do they have total power over everything that might go wrong, are they responsible for any delays caused by, for example, a car driving into a support for overhead wiring and causing delays? What can they do? It's not like they are unaware of the pressure, in fact, that's something that surely increase their chances of getting angry; it doesn't make it good, but nevertheless, when the media seize upon events like this, it is almost always trying to justify a total or partial privatisation.

[PhoenixAsh]

I don't disagree, but TTC workers are in an increasingly difficult situation. The new mayor is promising to make the TTC an "essential service" (effectively banning strikes), and the Liberal provincial government, which will probably be defeated by a more right wing government in the fall, is going along with it.

The very few incidents that the Toronto media, including the "left liberal" media, are trying to make a story out of, while unfortunate, are in many cases understandable. This doesn't justify them, of course, but what we all need to understand is that the most important struggle for the working class right now is to defend public workers and public services. The right wing doesn't need our help in going after them.

That is absolutely true.

Which is all the more reason to work together instead of escalating things. I guess that goes for both the customers and the employees. But when employees resort to such things it will play right into the hands of those who want to push this new law through. On the other hand...I get your point. Such incidents are being protrayed as common practice to further create a gap in customer and employee interests.

In Holland public transport employees will hold public friendly strike actions. Such as not asking for a fair during a certain period....they continue to provide the service but they refuse to check tickets or ask people to pay or buy them. For example. The customers are not inconvenienced by such actions...but the result is the same as not working: no money comes in. And the actions are less prone to be busted by scabs.

Are there talks of a general strike or employee actions?

[PhoenixAsh]

It's not a rational or proper response, no, but what can you do? Everyone can lose their temper sooner or later. It's just as ridiculous for passengers to complain to an operator, do they have total power over everything that might go wrong, are they responsible for any delays caused by, for example, a car driving into a support for overhead wiring and causing delays? What can they do? It's not like they are unaware of the pressure, in fact, that's something that surely increase their chances of getting angry; it doesn't make it good, but nevertheless, when the media seize upon events like this, it is almost always trying to justify a total or partial privatisation.

But it is equally understandable that when there is a delay and the customer had to wait a very long time to vent that anger at the representative of the service. In this case the driver. Who could have easilly difused the sitation by explaining why he was late....for example.

My problem is not so much with the driver...who overreacted massively...but with the behaviour of the supervisor.

[Psy]

But it is equally understandable that when there is a delay and the customer had to wait a very long time to vent that anger at the representative of the service. In this case the driver. Who could have easilly difused the sitation by explaining why he was late....for example.

My problem is not so much with the driver...who overreacted massively...but with the behaviour of the supervisor.

The bigger issue is delays are the norm for the TTC as it system is underfunded thus a overloaded system so riders really don't need delays over such trivial disputes and the fault lies in the driver for even making it a issue (and the supervisor for siding with the driver).