Union

Because my heart rate wasn't high enough in the gym today, I decided to get some cardio writing, and what better topic than unions?

Disclaimer! In this piece, I am going to rant. A lot. I'm going to call unions various names, refer to various directions in which they can go, and miscellaneous things I hope happen to them (symbolically, of course). However, I would also like to point out that I have great respect for the place where unions came from before they became overpaid whiny bitches. They gave us the minimum wage, the Employment Standards Act, and universal health care, all of which are core aspects of what makes up Canadian culture, and our feelings of superiority over our cousins to the south. I would never want to diminish what they've done in the past, but I will now take great pleasure in ripping apart what they're doing now.

Ok, so right now, a couple weeks after the first image of the sleeping TTC token collector has come and gone without any real reaction from the TTC, and the youtube video of a TTC driver taking an unscheduled coffee break during work has led to that driver's suspension... People are slightly upset. And here's why: because unions are stupid.

Allow me to elaborate. The first picture - the sleeper, a man who by all means is completely useless as every single one of his responsibilities have been taken over by the token and metropass machines, was defended for his actions by his union, who attacked travelers for not checking whether he was sleeping or passed out. First of all, illnesses that cause you to pass out, do not do so with you leaning back in your chair with your hands folded over your chest. Secondly, this man was in clear violation of the employee code of conduct, and all service sector rules. The union however, violated the cardinal rule of customer service - the customer is ALWAYS right. It baffles me that the management allows this rogue union to go on doing whatever they please. Where I work, we fired a guy today for sleeping on the job. Why? Because his job is important, and whenever someone is slacking off, that means someone else has to bear the brunt. This sleeper lost the TTC likely tens of fares if not more - depending on how long his nap was. The brunt is then transferred to the rest of the system, which can't handle the number of people in the subway because they don't have the funding to accommodate them. And with the recent fair hike, suffered while the quality of service plummets, I do not blame any one of those people for going through without paying.

However, as absurd as this whole situation has been, it is not what is currently making me so angry I am almost crapping my pants. What makes me so angry is that these "public servants" have been so spoiled by their union that they're out there protesting what is a completely reasonable action by management to suspend an employee for taking regular, lengthy, unscheduled breaks. Hell, the guy that was caught sleeping didn't even get that! He's still working! And they're out there saying "we're all human, he just needed to go to the bathroom" PLEASE! First off, if he was just in desperate need to hit the can, then NO ONE would be angry. There would be no post on Youtube, and no suspension. It was a coffee break, not a bathroom break. Secondly, most jobs which require the precision and regularly of something like public transit have regulated bathroom break times, and only in an emergency could you violate that. I work in the manufacturing sector, and we have scheduled breaks for our employees. Why? Because we're evil? No, because if they walk off the line to take a piss for 5 minutes the machine either runs without them and backs up or someone else has to take over. You are a part of a greater picture, and you stepping out of line to grab a cup of joe messes everything up. It means he's either late to every stop afterwards, or he drives like a maniac, endangering the lives of the public. And we should be sympathetic? That other people out there are making half as much money (if that) for harder work with greater (though reasonable) restrictions, while these little girls bitch about their naps and pee pee breaks coming under fire?

And it's not like this is the only example of union bullshit. The auto sector has been punished by these greedy assholes for decades. Yes, the CEOs are grossly overpaid and yes, most are unqualified, but that's only representative of every other position in the company. Maybe if you weren't making 40/hour to drill a hole in a metal sheet and then not feel like actually attaching the bumper to the car before you go home and burn up your pension savings on crappy investments and whine about how the government should take care of you because you were too stupid to do it yourself, and screw those kids who will eventually be old enough to need to make use of the government pension plan into which they pay, but you'll have dried it up completely leaving a barren wasteland behind.

Please, bitches. Shut the fuck up and do your job, and thank whatever god(s) you believe in that society let you get away with doing nothing for a bucket-load of money this long.

/rant