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You are on the [cover page] of folder [Strike Media In June]Strike Media June 5-28
posted on June 29, 2009
Just hold your noses and think of Canada
By: Angelo Persichilli
Published: Jun 28, 2009
Source: The StarFormer U.S. ambassador to Canada James Blanchard wrote in his book Behind the Embassy Door that many believe that what keeps Canada together is that "everyone hates Ontario. And what keeps Ontario together is that everyone hates Toronto." So if everybody is happy because Toronto is going to be submerged by tons of stinky garbage in the middle of a hot summer, don't worry – it helps to keep Canada together.
I don't like generalizations, but there is some truth to this. And the reason is, I guess, that Torontonians give the impression of behaving as if they are Ontario, while Ontarians believe that they are Canada.
posted on June 29, 2009
Is John Tory aiming for mayor's chair, as he slams 'unnecessary' strike?
By: Tanya Talaga, Rob Ferguson
Published: Jun 28, 2009
Source: The StarJohn Tory is sounding like a Toronto mayoralty candidate for 2010, taking a shot at David Miller's handling of the civic workers' strike and issuing a mea culpa for his own mistakes as former leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservatives.
"I think this entire chapter is so unnecessary," Tory said at yesterday's Conservative leadership convention, where MPP Tim Hudak was elected as his successor.
"What it reflects is both sides involved, those who serve the public as employees and those who serve as leaders, have forgotten they are public servants.
"We did not have to have it happen this way."
posted on June 29, 2009
Is that a union donation in your councillor's pocket ...
Or would you be glad to see an end to big-money contributions for municipal politicians?
By: BRYN WEESE
Published: 28th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunSeven city councillors accepted more than $4,000 combined in campaign donations from the city's two striking unions during the last municipal election.
CUPE Locals 79 and 416, which represent the 24,000 inside and outside workers who walked off the job six days ago and are fighting for better wages and to keep their benefits, gave $200 and $500 respectively to Councillors Maria Augimeri, Anthony Perruzza, Adam Giambrone, Janet Davis, and council's budget chief Shelley Carroll.
CUPE 4400, which represents workers at the Toronto District School Board, also gave $750 donations to Carroll, Davis, Perruzza and Giambone.
posted on June 29, 2009
DDon't make wasteland! of cottage country, officials warn Don't make wasteland! of cottage country, officials warn Don't make wasteland! of cottage country, officials warn Don't make wasteland of cottage country, officials warn
By: BRODIE FENLON
Published: Jun. 27, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailBe forewarned Toronto residents: The people who manage waste in cottage country will be watching what and how much you dump in their landfills.
With inconsistent rules and long delays of up to several hours at Toronto's designated transfer stations, residents may look beyond the city's borders during the strike to solve their trash-disposal problems.
posted on June 29, 2009
Three days in, our survival skills at their limit
By: CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
Published: Jun. 27, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailPersonally, I long for the infestation of rats. My dream is that they will eat all the ninnies.
The infestation hasn't happened yet, of course, though you'd never know it if you were visiting Toronto this week. Half the city hadn't even missed its first regularly scheduled garbage pickup and the streets were clogged with the other half shrieking about the threat to public health. And this, mind you, in a city where rat is occasionally in the restaurant window and on the menu in some parts of town, if mostly by accident.
By day three of the strike by 24,000 city workers, including garbage collectors, one of the Toronto papers was running a little strike-related feature entitled "Feeling the stress" with accompanying pictures of people looking hot, inconvenienced and rat-obsessed.
posted on June 29, 2009
Workers' strike saves Bluffers Park cats - for now
By: Jack Lakey
Published: Jun 27, 2009
Source: The StarThe feral cats of Bluffers Park have made lots of new friends lately, including many who want to help feed and look after them.
We've written twice about the colony of 20 to 30 felines after learning of a threat by Toronto Animal Services to remove them, based on a questionable complaint that four wild cats launched an unprovoked attack on a leashed bull terrier and scratched its snout.
posted on June 29, 2009
A back-to-work order would be bad news for Toronto
The cop-out labour strategy would simply lead to another strike in a few years
By: Marcus Gee
Published: Jun. 27, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailPremier Dalton McGuinty says that he isn't going to order striking City of Toronto employees back to work just yet. Mr. McGuinty told reporters that, as long as union and management are talking, the provincial government will “hold our fire and allow the two sides to do what needs doing.”
Good. A back-to-work order now, or even in a week or two, would be wildly premature. Worse, it would ruin any chance of getting an affordable, lasting deal for Toronto.
posted on June 29, 2009
Trash in park is the pits
Residents protest city's choices for garbage storage
By: BRETT CLARKSON
Published: 27th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunAs the sun started to set last night, Christie Pits Park was teeming with kids playing baseball and riding their bikes, slow-walking parents trying to keep an eye on their youngsters, and couples lying on the grass.
But in the northwest corner of the park, a horseshoe-shaped pile of garbage bags was growing in the hockey rink. Just outside that rink about 100 angered residents staged a protest against the city's decision to let locals use the rink as an impromptu garbage dump during the city workers' strike.
posted on June 29, 2009
Settling in for the long haul
By: Rick Taves, Laurence Olivo, Maureen Hulbert
Published: Jun. 27, 2009
Source: Globe and MailMunicipal workers in Windsor are striking because management wants new hires to work without the retirement benefits current workers enjoy. This is a worthy strike. Workers must resist any attempt to create two classes in their ranks. All workers doing the same work should have the same wages and benefits.
Toronto workers are striking to defend payment for banked sick days upon retirement (Premier Won't Force End To Municipal Strike - June 25). This is not a worthy cause. To demand payment for unused sick days is to admit that one cannot be trusted to use them honestly. Good health should be its own reward.
Now that we've had a few days of vituperation masquerading as reasoned comment aimed at Toronto municipal employees, let's look at some of the issues in context.
posted on June 29, 2009
City adjusts as strike grinds into sixth day
Little picketing going on at city's 19 new drop-off points for garbage; warm weekend weather quells public's anger over labour dispute
By: Brodie Fenlon
Published: Jun. 27, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailToronto residents appear to have stepped back from the brink of panic and outrage over the six-day-old municipal workers' strike and settled in for the long haul.
Traffic and garbage flowed easily yesterday at many of the city's 19 new temporary dump sites, which were staffed by managers who helped people offload their waste. Few had pickets.
“I have heard outrage on the radio as I've been driving around. ... They should get a life,” said Michael Craig, chair of the Sunnyside Community Association, a residents' group in south High Park, not far from one of the larger dumps in Sunnyside Park on the western waterfront.
posted on June 28, 2009
Residents cry foul as city opens temporary dump sites
Neighbours angered by plan to start up 19 short-term landfills in 'public's backyard'
By: BRODIE FENLON AND DAKSHANA BASCARAMURTY
Published: Jun. 27, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailToronto's Sunnyside Park is a natural draw for west-enders on the type of hot summer days forecast for the city this weekend: There's a wading pool for the toddlers, Gus Ryder Pool for the big kids, a lakeside bike path, boardwalk and a new $1-million water curtain to make Lake Ontario safe for swimming at the adjacent beach.
posted on June 29, 2009
What the strike means for David Miller
Even if the mayor succeeds, the city faces budget shortfalls, a possible tax hike, and the prospect of a Mike Harris-like backlash
By: ADAM RADWANSKI
Published: Jun. 27, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailShortly after his party had been punted from its one term of power, the first NDP premier in Ontario's history recalled the dark day he lost patience with the unions.
Bob Rae believed he had done as much as possible for organized labour, including banning the use of replacement workers during legal strikes. But in 1992, when he began signalling his government's intention to rein in costs, he was met with a vicious speech by Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove, accusing the NDP of selling out.
posted on June 29, 2009
Soccer games for 3,500 kids could be canned by strike
By: By DON PEAT
Published: 27th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunThe Toronto Eagles Soccer Club is warning 3,500 kids -- including Mayor David Miller's own son -- could be kicked out of soccer this summer thanks to the city's plan to dump garbage beside its clubhouse in Christie Pits.
Yesterday residents were already starting to drop garbage into the outdoor rink at the park -- one of 19 temporary dump sites across the city as part of the ongoing civic workers strike. Overnight, a pest control company hired by the city had dropped rat traps around the edges of the rink.
posted on June 29, 2009
Strike D.I.Y.: Some summer camps still have spaces
By: Patty Winsa
Published: Jun 26, 2009
Source: The StarReaders write in with their tips for coping with the civic workers' strike and the Star checks them out.
Tip: It is so frustrating to have to find a new daycare or summer camp for your kids. There are, however, tons of programs that are not run by the city to choose from. Many are also less expensive than the city programs. Parents should remember that almost all private schools run summer camp programs. As well, hundreds of private Toronto camps are still running and have space available.
posted on June 29, 2009
City of Toronto is falling off the same cliff as General Motors
The city knows it's heading for ruin, but lacks any credible plan to save itself.
By: Marcus Gee
Published: Jun. 26, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailThe workers enjoy perks that others can only dream of. The well-paid executives avoid making tough decisions. The organization has lost touch with those it serves and become a sprawling, self-perpetuating bureaucracy. The whole vast enterprise is drifting toward the rocks.
All of this was said of General Motors a year or two ago. It could just as easily be said of the City of Toronto today. Toronto is the GM of Canadian governments, heading for ruin, knowing it but lacking any credible plan to save itself.
posted on June 28, 2009
Garbage hits the Pits
Residents raise stink over plans to make Christie Pits a dump site
By: DON PEAT
Published: 26th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunToronto Mayor David Miller and Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone's political bro-mance may be in the pits after this strike.
Facing a revolt in his ward from Christie Pits residents furious their park is about to be filled with stockpiles of trash, the local councillor issued a statement yesterday slamming city officials, including the mayor's office, for turning the Pits into one of 19 dumps.
posted on June 29, 2009
City cancels Canada Day parties
By: BRYN WEESE
Published: 26th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunHappy stinking birthday, Canada.
If you were counting on City Hall to help you celebrate Canada's 142nd birthday, make other plans.
In a possible signal that the five-day old strike is going to be a long one, officials yesterday confirmed all city-run Canada Day events, and those that required permits to take place on city property, will be cancelled.
The strike has already closed pools, cancelled kids' summer camps and stopped garbage collection, among a myriad of other services.
posted on June 29, 2009
19 more trash mountains
City opens temporary dump sites
By: BRYN WEESE
Published: 26th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunThe strike by civic workers may have Toronto down in the dumps, but at least it's given us more of them.
City officials announced 19 temporary dump sites yesterday to help residents cope with their mounting piles of trash.
It's part of City Hall's contingency plan to deal with the five-day-old municipal strike, and officials say while some of the sites may not be popular, they were selected from more than 200 possible locations.
Joe Pennachetti, the city's top bureaucrat, said several factors were used to determine where to set up the temporary dumps, including adequate city-wide coverage, they must be on city-owned property, preference was given to paved or gravel areas, vehicle accessible, and near residents' homes. But officials know the piles will get stinky.
posted on June 29, 2009
Christie Pits protest planned
By: DON PEAT
Published: 26th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunAs garbage bags start piling up in Christie Pits Park, residents are planning a protest tonight.
The park is one of 19 temporary dump sites opened today to help stockpile the city's garbage during the ongoing civic workers strike. A flyer announcing the 7 p.m. protest states, "Parks are not dumps, not Christie Pits, not any park!"
Deputy Mayor and local councillor Joe Pantalone is expected to attend the protest, organizers said.
Yesterday a handful of protesters raised a stink over the city turning the park's outdoor ice rink into a dump.
posted on October 16, 2009
19 mini-dumps to take garbage
Selected park and arena parking lots to accept residential waste from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during strike
Published: Jun 26 2009
Source: The StarNineteen locations across the city – from North Toronto to the Western Beaches to the Portlands – have been turned into mini-dumps as the city struggles to cope with waste from its five-day-old strike.
posted on July 05, 2009
How to survive the Great Strike of ‘09
Nowhere to dump your trash? Feel like a swim? Our fearless reporter offers ways to beat the strike.
By: Jared Greenspan
Published: Jun. 26, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailTry “borrowing” some books
Though five libraries shut down and others shortened their hours, you need not fear. Head down to The World's Biggest Bookstore at Yonge and Edward, and borrow books to your heart's content. This is what I did on Tuesday afternoon when I purchased a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses . The cashier told me about the returns policy – a full refund within 14 days, as long as you don't treat the book like a football. Some people do take advantage, he explained, but there's little that they can do to stop it. I advised him that the policy was stupid and some shady individual might take advantage of it. When I opened the book I was shocked – shocked, I say – to discover that Ulysses was in fact not a biography of Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War general and President. Later that day, after reading a few pages of incomprehensible nonsense about Dublin, I returned the book to the Indigo at Bay and Bloor (Indigo owns WBB) and told the cashier that I just didn't want it. “Is it the quality?” he asked.
“Join” a Gym
posted on June 29, 2009
McGuinty urges Torontonians to be patient
By: Tanya Talaga
Published: Jun 25, 2009
Source: The StarPremier Dalton McGuinty has once again appealed to Torontonians to be patient during the municipal workers' strike.
"It calls for patience and goodwill on our part. We have decided as a society that when there are these kinds of disputes, that the single most important thing that we can do is to allow the parties to negotiate a settlement at the table," McGuinty said this morning at Markham Stouffville Hospital.
"It's hot outside, I can understand people's level of frustration - they're not going to pick up my garbage this week, it's starting to stink inside the garage, (I)understand that."
posted on June 28, 2009
City unveils locations of 19 new temporary dumps
Published: Jun. 25 2009
Source: ctvtoronto.caThe city of Toronto has unveiled the locations of the 19 sites where Torontonians will be able to temporarily bring their garbage while the municipal workers' strike continues into a fourth day. City manager Joe Pennachetti said Thursday that the city studied more than 200 locations when trying to identify possible drop-off points. Dr. David McKeown, the city's chief medical officer of health, said the temporary sites won't lead to health problems, although he conceded some might be offended by the odour. The garbage will stay at those sites for the duration of the strike, officials said. The new sites are:
- Ted Reeve arena (Main St. and Gerrard St. E.)
- Sir Casmir Gzowski park (West of Sunnyside, south of Lakeshore Blvd., must be eastbound to access)
- Etienne Brule park (Old Mill Rd. at Catherine St.)
posted on July 07, 2009
What's open, what's closed
Published: Jun. 25, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailGarbage
Household pickup cancelled everywhere but Etobicoke. Yard waste, white goods (e.g. fridges and stoves), household hazardous waste, and ElectroVan and HazMobile collection is cancelled everywhere.
Pools
Closed, including wading pools. Newer splash pads are automated, and can be used.
Community centres
Closed, except for:
519 Church Street Community Centre
Applegrove Community Complex
Cecil Street Community Centre
Central Eglinton Community Centre
Community Centre 55
posted on June 29, 2009
Daily strike digest: Angry farmers, unkempt beaches
Published: Jun 25, 2009
Source: The Star• Seven Toronto beaches are temporarily losing their Blue Flag status, which recognizes water safety, services and environmental management. Beaches are certified under the international program based on criteria including washroom facilities on site, frequent garbage collection and weekly water quality tests – which are on hold due to the strike.
• The city will consider providing rebates to offset the suspension of garbage pickup during the strike. As of November, the cost of handling garbage was taken off the property tax bill and converted to a user-pay, volume-based system. The new trash fees appear along with water charges on the utility bill sent to households. "We'll take a look at rebates after the strike, and council will have to make a decision," said city spokesperson Kevin Sack.
posted on June 29, 2009
A tale of two pickets
Inside City Hall
By: Brodie Fenlon
Published: June 25, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailThis is a tale of two pickets at two Toronto transfer stations, near to each other on the map, yet miles apart in how they treated residents and the media yesterday.
As the story goes, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. First the worst: Scarborough transfer station near Markham Road and Nugget Avenue. As a resident, you couldn’t help but feel under siege. A manager acting as a bylaw officer barked at people who parked on the wrong side of the street and threatened others with fines for illegal dumping. Strikers seemed to relish delivering the news to hapless residents with bags in tow that they faced a wait of at least an hour, which turned out to be several hours for those at the back of the line. “You can try Bermondsey [transfer station], but good luck,” said a female striker to a new arrival in the queue. “The wait there is even longer. You might as well just go home.”
posted on June 29, 2009
Toronto strike locked in political stalemate
Ontario Premier won't intervene in the strike by city's municipal workers as long as the two sides are at the bargaining table talking to each other
By: Brodie Fenlon, Karen Howlett and Jennifer Lewington
Published: Jun. 25, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailToronto — From Thursday's Last updated on Thursday, 01:10PM EDT Toronto residents face another steamy day without pools or garbage collection as the key players in a four-day strike by municipal workers remain locked in a political stalemate the Ontario Premier refuses to end – for now.
Dalton McGuinty, who has made no move to end an 11-week-long city workers' strike in Windsor, said he won't intervene in the Toronto dispute as long as the two sides are at the bargaining table.
posted on June 28, 2009
Toronto's temporary trash sites may signal long strike
Toronto's temporary trash sites may signal long strike
Last Updated: Thursday, June 25, 2009
CBC NewsTemporary garbage drop-off, Permanent garbage drop-off
Published: June 25, 2009
Source: CBC NewsThe first sign that the strike by Toronto's municipal workers may last a little longer than city officials first predicted came on Thursday when the city announced 19 temporary garbage drop-off locations.
There will be fenced-in zones in parks across the city where residents will be able to drop their trash from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day.
The temporary sites will remain "until the end of the strike," said Geoff Rathbone, who heads the city's solid waste department.
posted on June 29, 2009
Parents scramble to register in private day camps
By: DAKSHANA BASCARAMURTY
Published: Jun. 25, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailSusan Kelly is the kind of mother who clocks long days at work, shuttles her son to soccer practice in the evening, and lives life by her BlackBerry. She plans everything in advance. So the mother of two was blindsided when municipal workers decided to strike, potentially derailing plans she made in March to send her kids to a two-week-long city musical theatre camp beginning July 6.
"I'm trying to block it out of my mind because I don't want to consider how much of a hassle this is going to be if I have to find something else," said Ms. Kelly, a mother of two who lives in Bloor West Village.
posted on June 28, 2009
Stinkin' Mad
By: Silvana Aceto
Published: 25 June, 2009
About a dozen residents protested outside the temporary dump site at Christie Pits, Thursday morning. They don't want garbage to be dumped in their backyard.
posted on June 25, 2009
Parents scramble to fill day-camp gap
As strike shuts down affordable city-operated camps, people ponder pricier alternatives
By: Iain Marlow
Published: Jun 25, 2009
Source: The StarJennifer St. Denis' summer is a carefully orchestrated series of interlocking weeks, a balanced juggling of her two young daughters' five separate day camps and her husband's vacation time.
"My whole summer was mapped out," she said. "Week by week."
Enter the city workers strike.
posted on June 25, 2009
No one answering phone at City Hall
By: Jack Lakey
Published: Jun 25, 2009
Source: The StarThe strike by Toronto's civic employees is making it tough for The Fixer to get things fixed.
As the effects of a walkout by 30,000 city workers settle in, nobody is picking up the phone when we call to ask for a solution to problems directed to us by readers. And with the possibility the strike could go on for several weeks, that's not likely to change anytime soon.
We'll let you in on a secret, but keep it to yourselves: Our expertise is not in patching potholes or repairing park benches, but in knowing the right people to call in Toronto's vast bureaucracy. That's why we have a notepad and camera instead of a service truck full of tools.
posted on June 25, 2009
Police won't cut picket line waits
By: Vanessa Lu
Published: Jun 25, 2009
Source: The StarThings moved more smoothly on the picket lines yesterday, including those at two transfer stations, but the city and its striking unions have yet to agree on how long pedestrians or motorists should wait to pass through.
"We do see quite a bit of variation in terms of the wait times," Geoff Rathbone, general manager of solid waste, said at yesterday's afternoon briefing. "However, just over the last several hours, for example, we've made significant progress at the Dufferin transfer station and good progress at the Scarborough transfer station, so we're quite pleased with that."
posted on June 25, 2009
Torontonians chill out despite extreme heat alert
By: DANIEL DALE
Published: Jun 25, 2009
Source: The StarAs a teenager might say: not cool.
Because the city workers' strike forced the closure of several buildings usually designated "emergency cooling centres" on scorching summer days, the city yesterday told the overheated to chill at one of seven alternative facilities – including, unfortunately, the Parkdale public library, where the air conditioning system was not working.
posted on June 25, 2009
City's pettiness is what really stinks
By: Vinay Menon
Published: Jun 25, 2009
Source: The StarWhen I arrived at the Bermondsey Transfer Station yesterday morning, I was prepared for the worst.
I expected to see a mountain of trash as high as K2. I expected to smell a stench so putrid, it would invade my nostrils and forever haunt my dreams. I expected to hear catcalls as I chaperoned my double-bagged garbage past a mob of jostling picketers.
But there was none of that.
Instead, I pulled up to what looked like the most boring tailgate party in history.
posted on June 25, 2009
No, we're not calling in the army
By: Royson James
Published: Jun 25, 2009
Source: The StarThirty-six hours into the municipal workers strike — 36 hours, not days — and Torontonians had already lost their minds in unnecessary panic.
Legislate them back to work! Take away the right to strike!! Privatize garbage collection!!!
My goodness. Get a hold on yourselves, people. If you can't do without these workers for two days then maybe they should be making three times the salaries they now pull down.
posted on June 25, 2009
Long strike feared
By: Vanessa Lu, John Spears
Published: Jun 25, 2009
Source: The StarMake serious progress on a deal by this weekend, or settle in for a long, bitter strike.
That's the outlook from both the City of Toronto and Canadian Union of Public Employees, whose 30,000 city workers walked off the job at midnight Monday. Nobody has threatened to walk away from the table, but both sides say this weekend could be a make-or-break point.
And the risk of a prolonged strike escalated yesterday when Premier Dalton McGuinty discouraged the idea of legislating an end to it.
posted on June 25, 2009
Letters to the Editor
Comment
By: SUN READERS
Published: 25th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunBURNING MAD
I give Premier McGuinty one more week of fiddling his thumbs before he's finished. Windsor has put up with a municipal workers' strike for more than two months. But Toronto isn't like Windsor. Two months will take us right through the summer. That's two months of garbage stinking and rotting in the streets. With such a feast laid out for them, our rat population will quadruple. What the premier has to remember is that rats don't vote.BRIAN HENRY
TORONTO
(Just those in the rat race)
- CBC interview on Here and Now with Chris Holcroft of Green 13, June 25, 2009.
posted on October 16, 2009
City announces temporary dumps
By: Vanessa Lu, Donovan Vincent
Published: Jun 25 2009
Source: The StarNineteen temporary locations where Toronto residents can drop off of their garbage during the strike are opening immediately across the city.
The temporary locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. Residents are asked to mix their organic bin contents with garbage, and ensure that it is double-bagged.
posted on June 25, 2009
Workers didn't cause recession
Comment
By: SID RYAN
Published: 25th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunThe scorecard's been a little lopsided of late.
Banks, Big Business and the super-rich: Trillions of dollars in government (read taxpayer) bailouts.Workers: The Shaft.
Is it any wonder workers are finally pushing back?
In Windsor, CUPE members have been on strike for three months, trying to hold the line against an employer (the city of Windsor) that wants to strip future generations of the hope of a comfortable retirement.Here in Toronto, garbage is piling up, city-operated daycare centres and pools are closed.
posted on June 25, 2009
Resident fuming over striker abuse, idle police
By: DON PEAT
Published: 25th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunDavid Chung says he was just trying to do what Mayor David Miller said to do -- throw out his trash legally.
That's why Chung, 61, and his son took their garbage to a transfer station Tuesday morning but when striking CUPE workers told the retired high school teacher he had to wait to throw out his trash -- 15 minutes for every person in line in front of him -- he refused and tried to cross the picket lines at the Scarborough transfer station.
"I've got a life," Chung told the Sun yesterday. "I did the math and said, 'That means I've got to be here for two hours,' so I took a stand."
posted on June 25, 2009
Pickets ease wait time
New rules allow quicker dumping
By: DON PEAT
Published: 25th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunTrash tossers, time is now on our side.
If you're trying to toss your trash at Toronto's garbage transfer stations, pickets shouldn't be making you wait, CUPE officials said yesterday.
CUPE spokesman Pat Daley told the Sun last night that a kindler, gentler new strike protocol for transfer station picket lines is being rolled out across the city.
In the first few days of the civic workers strike, residents wanting to dump their trash legally at several transfer stations around the city were facing long waits as pickets were limiting dumping to one person every 15 minutes.
posted on June 25, 2009
Minister: Torontonians a 'bunch of babies'
By: ANTONELLA ARTUSO
Published: 25th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunEconomic Development and Trade Minister Sandra Pupatello has apologized for calling Torontonians a "bunch of babies" in their response to the garbage strike.
At a news conference promoting a cabinet shuffle yesterday morning, Pupatello, who hails from Windsor, was asked what she thinks about the reaction of Toronto resident to the city's strike.
posted on June 25, 2009
Province won't step in
Some workers ask to return but walkout will last 'as long as it takes'
By: BRYN WEESE
Published: 25th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunSolidarity forever or solidarity be damned.
City officials confirmed yesterday 132 would-be striking workers have requested to cross the picket line and report back to work.
As labour leaders told a scorching Nathan Phillips Square rally that the municipal strike, now in its fourth day, would last "as long as it takes," Premier Dalton McGuinty said he wasn't ready to step in and end it.
While Kevin Sack, the city's senior spokesman, wouldn't say how many of the 132 would-be scabs are back on the job, he did confirm some are working again.
posted on June 25, 2009
Dump site is the Pits
Himy Syed, of the group Friends of Christie Pits, started
a petition earlier this week to urge city council that parks
should not be used as dumps.
(GREG HENKENHAF/SUN MEDIA)Residents fume over possible trash-stash plan
By: DON PEAT
Published: 25th June 2009
Source: Toronto SunChristie Pits residents are fuming at the thought their beloved park could be turned into a temporary dump.
While the city has yet to announce the location for its new temporary dump sites, residents see temporary fencing being set up and figure the park is about to get filled with garbage.
Friends of Christie Pits say the decision stinks, especially after watching the 2002 strike ruin the park with piles of garbage from the 16-day city strike.
What's at stake in city strike: A CUPE view
MARK BLINCH/REUTERS
Toronto garbage collectors, daycare workers and other municipal
employees went on strike just after midnight on Monday in a contract
dispute that could lead to a prolonged shutdown of important services.The city is following the corporate pack that is taking its financial troubles out on older workers
By: Ann Dembinski
President of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 79
Mark Ferguson
President of Toronto Civic Employees Union Local 416 CUPE
Published: Jun 24, 2009
Source: The StarOur members – child-care workers, paramedics, social service workers, building inspectors, garbage collectors and thousands more who keep our city safe, clean and beautiful – have been forced to embark on a strike that we had hoped to avoid.
posted on June 25, 2009
What's at stake in city strike: A councillor's view
The strike offers a rare opportunity to make fundamental changes to how we run our city
By: Adam Vaughan
Councillor for Ward 20, Trinity Spadina
Published: Jun 24, 2009
Source: The StarNothing says not working like a strike. On the other hand, the folks involved in the blame game seem well employed. Working overtime in the business of finger pointing has its benefits.
Some have cast the latest labour dispute as a problem between management and staff in the civil service. Others want to blame the mayor but not council; others want the unions held responsible but not politicians.
Nobody says it out loud, but how about those taxpayers who always demand the impossible: better service without paying for it?
posted on June 29, 2009
Public trashes strikers
By: Nick Aveling
Published: Jun 24, 2009
Source: The StarThis is all the union's fault. Scrap the sick-bank system. End the strike.
The feeling among GTA residents is clear, according to an Angus Reid poll conducted for the Toronto Star. More than three in four, 76 per cent, oppose the strike. More than two-thirds, 71 per cent, think CUPE should drop demands for an agreement that allows workers to bank 18 sick days a year. And an overwhelming 81 per cent favour provincial back-to-work legislation. Toronto is on Day 3 of a strike by 30,000 city workers.
posted on June 29, 2009
For garbage collectors, wages and benefits vary a lot
By: Nicole Baute
Published: Jun 24, 2009
Source: The StarThere are two kinds of residential garbage collectors in the city: municipal employees walking the picket line in the blazing summer sun and the ones who are working today.
The latter are employed by Turtle Island Recycling, the company the City of Toronto pays more than $8.5 million a year to pick up waste in Etobicoke, where collection has been contracted out since before amalgamation.
Turtle Island management did not want to talk to the Star, but two waste collectors paused briefly to talk about their pay and benefits yesterday.
Their workdays are longer than those of city garbage collectors, their wages lower and their sick pay nonexistent. Never mind bankable sick days.
posted on June 29, 2009
Chaos in Toronto
By: Daniel Dale
Published: Jun 24, 2009
Source: The StarThe Star was at Bermondsey transfer station yesterday, the second day of Toronto's civic workers strike.
11:15 a.m.: Sam Attia arrives at the station. His cargo: two bags of garbage from his Baskin-Robbins franchise; a cardboard box filled with other boxes; and his daughters Veronica, 10, and Barbara, 9.
"I have a business. I can't keep my garbage longer," Attia says. "Especially when it's in the summer."
Union members say they will allow one person to deposit garbage every 15 minutes. Attia's silver sedan is sixth in line.
11:39 a.m.: A group of men pushes away the first car in line, which would not start. The girls cheer.
11:45 a.m.: Attia inches into the third spot in line.
11:53 a.m.: The girls walk cautiously up to the picket line. A picketer raises his fist and shouts, "Union!" The girls do not reply.
posted on June 29, 2009
Calm in Etobicoke: One city, two tales
By: Nicole Baute
Published: Jun 24, 2009
Source: The StarIt is an everyday scene that has suddenly become a novelty: waste bins lining the curb, garbage trucks making their rounds.
Only in Etobicoke, that is, where garbage collection continues as usual despite the strike by city workers.
Garbage pickup was contracted out in Etobicoke before amalgamation, to the good fortune of residents who came home yesterday to empty bins.
posted on June 29, 2009
Garbage strike doesn't stink for everyone
For enterprising Torontonians, one man's trash is another man's profit
By: Brodie Fenlon
Published: Jun. 24, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailBill Hennessey sees gold in them hills of trash.
The 25-year-old live lobster salesman-turned-event promoter has whipped up a website and organized disposal trucks in a mad dash to capitalize on Toronto's garbage strike.
His instant business, Toronto Sameday Garbage Removal, launched Tuesday with Mr. Hennessey, his brother and a cube van going door-to-door in North Toronto, offering to pick up bags of trash.
The self-described “garbaneurs” see no limit to the gains they can make off Toronto's pain. Mr. Hennessey said he has proper disposal trucks lined up for the weekend, and a deal to dump the waste at a landfill outside the city (he wouldn't say where).
posted on June 28, 2009
Chris Selley: The labour movement needs to justify its existence
By: Chris Selley
Published: June 24, 2009
Source: National PostThe term “alternate reality” is being thrown around a lot this week in Ontario, vis-à-vis two public sector strikes—one ongoing, among Toronto’s outside workers, and one threatened, among LCBO employees. You hear variations on the question asked all the time: How can unionized workers possibly be demanding to ameliorate their already comfortable compensation packages at a time when those who pay their salaries are holding on for dear life?
posted on June 24, 2009
The sweet smell of summer garbage
In Toronto, it can be hard to tell the difference between a garbage strike and any other time: Customer focus isn't a big aim of garbage collection, and neither is efficiency or cost
By: Margaret Wente
Published: Jun. 24, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailIs your garbage getting smelly? Are you plagued by the aroma of old shrimp shells and unfresh kitty litter wafting in the breeze on a hot summer day? Well, here's a helpful tip from City Hall: Freeze it Just don't mistake it for meat balls later on.
It's plain to see why the rest of Canada envies Toronto. Our civic leaders are always working tirelessly on our behalf. If we've got to have a garbage strike, they don't want us to suffer.
posted on June 25, 2009
City workers are our neighbours and friends
By: Joe Fiorito
Published: Jun 24, 2009
Source: The StarThese are the glory days for the union bashers in our midst; there is nothing like the smell of rotting garbage and the sight of padlocks on the doors of the daycare centres to heighten the anti-labour frenzy. Let's try to relax.
The people on strike are our neighbours. They are not stupid and they are not evil. They are us.
And if a strike is a brutal tool, it is always a weapon of last resort, and a sign that negotiations have been flawed.
A bargaining table has two sides, kids.
posted on July 10, 2009
That smell!
It stinks that our public-minded mayor is so ready to gut worker morale
By: Mike Smith
Published: 23 June 2009
Source: Now TorontoSmell that? It may be the garbage that’s gathering in the street, but to many it reeks of strategy: the realpolitik of a mayor stung by accusations that he’s in bed with the unions.
David Miller, who ran as the candidate of labour peace, will be far harder to NDP-bait after standing up to city unions.
But boon for the mayor or not, city negotiators likely would have decided anyway that they needed to draw the line on who’s setting public sector labour patterns in tough times.
posted on June 24, 2009
Confusion and abuse mark garbage strike's second day
Promised picket line protocol not in place yet
By: Brodie Fenlon
Published: Jun. 23, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailIn the words of a police officer who helped keep the peace at the Bermondsey Transfer Station, "one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing."
Toronto residents who braved the picket lines Tuesday to deposit their garbage at the city's designated drop-offs were met by a mish-mash of conflicting rules, parking hassles, threats of fines, and at one transfer station in Scarborough, verbal abuse.
posted on June 28, 2009
Time to roll back council pay raise
Published:Jun 23, 2009
Source:The StarIn lamenting the municipal employees' strike now disrupting Toronto, Mayor David Miller correctly argues that public sector unions shouldn't expect pay raises and concession-free contracts when private sector workers – and taxpayers – are facing layoffs, plant closings, and rollbacks of their pay and benefits.
"The world has changed," Miller said in a radio interview yesterday. "We're simply not in a position to offer generous settlements at a time of worldwide recession, when our tax revenues are significantly down and our costs are significantly up."
posted on June 28, 2009
Forget the garbage, what stinks here is the attitude
Published: 23/06/09
Source: canoe.caNow, now. There, there.
Oh sure, the entire country's in a financial pickle and workers in every industry imaginable are fretting about whether, come tomorrow, they'll still have jobs, but heck, let's make sure you can bank those sick days.
Sure, regular employees are in the midst of workplace crunches with fewer folks doing greater amounts of work, but forget the average Joe's woes over how he's gonna put the bacon on the table and feed hungry little mouths or pay his rent and hydro bills.
posted on June 25, 2009
Mississauga council wants wage freeze for Ontario
'Isolated From The Pain'
By: Megan O'Toole
Published: June 23, 2009
Source: National PostMississauga council is expected to call on Premier Dalton McGuinty tomorrow to freeze provincial and municipal wages and benefits in Ontario for a year.
Unionized public employees with secure contract deals have largely avoided the fallout of the economic downturn, said Ward 7 Councilor Nando Iannicca, who wrote the resolution, which councillors have already approved in principle.
He called the wage freeze a "gesture" to show public employees are willing to share the financial burden.
"We've had the privilege of being isolated from the pain that the average taxpayer feels," he said, noting Mississauga councillors have already agreed to a one-year freeze on their own salaries, and a 10% reduction in their expense budgets.
posted on June 24, 2009
Unions face uncertain future in global economy
By: Alia McMullen
Published: June 23, 2009
Source: Financial PostStrike activity has intensified across Canada, most notably in the public sector, as workers fight to hold onto perks that have come under threat due to the recession.
But the relative inflexibility of unions to scale back on fringe benefits, particularly in times of economic crisis, could come back to haunt those involved by making it harder to compete in an increasingly global economy.
posted on June 24, 2009
Toronto city workers on strike
Residents are without garbage collection, daycare and a wide range of other services. 'The city is putting the knife to us,' CUPE Local 79 President Ann Dembinski says.
By: Brodie Fenlon, Jennifer Lewington, Anna Mehler Paperny and Timothy Appleby
Published: Jun. 23, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailToronto's municipal workers' strike hit hard and fast for residents of all ages Monday, from the mother in Weston forced to bring her toddler to work, to the senior locked out of her local golf course, to a 17-year-old lifeguard whose summer job is up in the air.
"It just sucks that choices some people make affect us all," said Stephanie Plateo, 17, a recent high school graduate who was to begin her summer job as a lifeguard at Etobicoke's Olympium swimming pool on Thursday.
posted on June 24, 2009
Mayor takes strike message to Twitter
By: DON PEAT
Published: 23rd June 2009
Source: Toronto SunToronto Mayor David Miller has taken his message on the now two-day-old civic strike onto Twitter.
Just after 8 a.m. today the mayor updated his Twitter page, twitter.com/mayormiller. It's the first time the avid tweeter has updated the page since the strike began early Monday.
posted on June 24, 2009
The odds are in his favour – now Miller needs to stick to his guns
Mayor's dreams for Toronto hang in the balance
By: Marcus Gee
Published: Jun. 23, 2009
Source: The globe And mailThe gods are seldom so kind. This week's strike by city workers is a heaven-sent opportunity for Mayor David Miller.
With an election coming next year, his rivals are preparing to paint him as a union-loving, bikepeddling, tax-and-spend downtown lefty out of touch with average Tim Hortons Torontonians.
Here is his chance to prove them wrong. If Mr. Miller can stand up to the unions and win concessions that save the city money in the teeth of a recession, no one will ever be able to say he is a union lapdog or spineless slave of political correctness.
posted on June 24, 2009
No back-to-work legislation yet: McGuinty
By: JONATHAN JENKINS, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU
Published: 23rd June 2009
Source: Toronto sunYou can hold your nose but don't hold your breath.
The province won't immediately act to order striking Toronto city workers -- including garbage collectors -- back onto the job, with the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty preferring the two sides reach a deal themselves.
"We respect the collective bargaining process and believe the best solution is one reached by both parties through negotiations," McGuinty spokesman Karman Wong said yesterday.
posted on June 24, 2009
Garbage, tempers sizzle
Pickets prevent residents from dumping their trash at transfer stations
By: DON PEAT AND BRYN WEESE
Published: 23rd June 2009
Source: Toronto SunWhat a dump.
Just hours into the strike by City of Toronto unionized employees, bags of garbage were piling up outside some waste transfer stations where civic officials told residents they could drop off their junk in the event of a strike.
Dozens of black garbag e bags were sizzling in the soaring summer temperatures yesterday outside the Commissioners St. transfer station.
posted on June 24, 2009
Tourists lament ferry service shutdown
By: DON PEAT
Published: 23rd June 2009
Source: Toronto SunA quick ferry hop to Toronto Island was out of the question yesterday as the strike shut down the city's ferry service.
Tourists trying to get to the island were politely turned away from Toronto's ferry fleet, moored for the first day of the civic workers' strike.
That was bad news for British tourist Jill Kelsey-Smith and her husband who as hoping to hit the island yesterday as part of her four-week cross-Canada trip.
Instead, the Welwyn Garden City native got a crash course in the labour strife of Canada's largest city.
In town since Saturday, she doubted she'd see a resolution to the strike by tomorrow when the couple leaves for Montreal.
posted on June 24, 2009
Two-hour wait to dump trash
By: DON PEAT
Published: 23rd June 2009
Source: Toronto SunDay 2 of the Big Smoke's big city workers strike has more garbage piling up and residents steaming hotter than the trash they're trying to throw out.
Residents pulling up to the Bermondsey Rd. transfer station were being warned they'd have about a two-hour wait.
A pile of garbage sat in front of the station. Strikers said residents had left the trash overnight. The pile included recyclables, boxes of Christmas lights and bags of unopened shirts.
posted on June 24, 2009
Time for some ingenuity
By: Joe Warmington
Published: 23rd June 2009
Source: Toronto SunDo we really need a person to administer cat licences? It's amazing how much power and control our city has given these unions.
Just check out what happened yesterday on Day 1 of the CUPE inside and outside workers strike.
The annual Pride Parade flag raising at Nathan Phillips Square was cancelled. Raising a flag up a pole in Toronto, it seems, is considered highly skilled, unionized work.
Or were some people afraid to cross the picket line, which was the real reason for the cancellation?
It was hard to get a straight answer out of City Hall, where many councillors' offices were not open to handle constituent calls. They probably won't be returning their pay, though.
posted on June 24, 2009
City managers clear illegal trash piles
Have you been set back by the strike? If so, we want to hear from you. Contact the Toronto Sun City Desk at 416-947-2211 or by e-mail at torsun.citydesk@sunmedia.ca
By: DON PEAT
Published: 23rd June 2009
Source: Toronto SunMounds of trash that had started to grow in Christie Pits park are now gone. City of Toronto managers descended on the park just after 9 a.m. to clear away trash leftover from a weekend festival and illegal dumping that started after city workers walked off the job early Monday.
The growing piles sparked protest by local residents just hours into the strike and has led to a growing petition urging the city not to use parks as temporary garbage dump sites as the labour disruption continues.
posted on June 23, 2009
Expect long, drawn-out fight
MARK BLINCH/REUTERS
Canadian Union of Public Employees members picket
City Hall June 22, 2009 after going on strike
just after midnight.By: Royson James
Published: June 23, 2009
Source: The StarExpect the civic workers' strike to last well into next month and beyond. Even before the first picket lines were erected early yesterday, business lobbyists were urging the province to legislate the employees back to work. Wishful thinking.
Mayor David Miller says he's optimistic of a settlement because the unions didn't walk away from the negotiations vowing to return only if their demands are met. City manager Joe Pennachetti yesterday said he expects the dispute will end "fairly soon ... this week." Double wishful thinking.
posted on June 24, 2009
Will Miller seek a court injunction?
By: BRYN WEESE
Published: 23rd June 2009
Source: Toronto SunToronto Mayor David Miller is talking tough about the city workers strike, but waffled when asked if he would seek a court injunction to ease tensions at transfer stations. Miller said he is disgusted by residents using the city as their own "personal dumping ground." He addressed the media today at Metro Hall, and said the vast majority of Torontonians are proud of their city and wouldn't dump trash all over it.
posted on June 23, 2009
City to clean up after Pride festivities
By: Emily Mathieu
Published: June 23, 2009
Source: The StarToronto's Pride committee is confident that a citywide garbage strike will not turn the world-renowned festival into a mess.
"At this point everything that is planned is going ahead," said Tracey Sandilands, executive director for Gay Pride. "We don't expect anything to be affected."
Traditionally, Pride takes care of the trash generated during the weeklong festivities and city workers clean up at the end.
posted on July 07, 2009
A tale of 2 strikes
Garbage begins to pile up again, 7 years after city workers last walked off job
Published: June 22, 2009
Source: CBC NewsThe evening before 24,000 Toronto civic employees walked off the job, the head of the union representing the outside workers didn't mince words.
"At 9:30 this evening, the City of Toronto tabled a proposal that we considered to be complete garbage," CUPE Local 416 president Rob Ferguson said Sunday. "It was a vicious attack on our membership, an unwarranted attack."
The issues standing in the way of a new contract include wage increases, seniority and a bitterly contested proposal by the city to change its employees' sick plan that would mean an end to workers banking days and cashing them out at retirement.
posted on June 24, 2009
Unions living in dreamland
If the unions dig in their heels, they won't get much public sympathy
By: Marcus Gee, mgee@globeandmail.com
Published: Jun. 22, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailAre you worried about losing your job in the recession? Is your company cutting your pay or laying off workers? Put aside all that stress for a minute. Close your eyes and dream.
Imagine you work for an employer that is hiring people and spending money like it's going out of style.
Imagine you have a top-notch pension, generous benefits and a plan that lets you collect sick days and cash them in when you retire for thousands of dollars.
posted on June 23, 2009
Parents scramble for daycare
Informal childcare arrangements pop up on portals such as Craigslist
By: Noor Javed, Donovan Vincent
Published: June 22, 2009
Source: The StarHours after city workers walked off the job, dozens of postings for babysitters, childcare services and private day camps are popping up on the online classified list, Craigslist, to help stranded parents during the strike.
The city's 57 daycares are shut this morning, forcing the parents of 2,800 kids to find help elsewhere.
Many centres had sent letters home to parents on Friday to warn them of an impending strike. And while some may have been able to find quick short-term help, a longer strike may force them to be creative.
posted on June 24, 2009
Union-sympathy well running dry
By: Gerald Platel, Don Mills
Published: June 22, 2009
Source: National PostThis article will have the 30% of unionized workers accusing the National Post of union bashing. The rest of us might be inclined to say, "About bloody time!"
posted on June 23, 2009
Bad timing has caused strike
By: Royson James
Published: June 22, 2009
Source: The StarWith strong words of condemnation for city negotiators, union officials dismissed final contract offers as "complete garbage" and plunged the city into a strike just after midnight.
The offer was "a vicious attack on our membership," said Mark Ferguson, head of the outside workers, Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 416.
His CUPE colleague from Local 79, representing the inside workers, said the city never wanted to settle and is hell-bent on treating these workers different from police, fire, hydro and community housing employees.
posted on June 24, 2009
Public must be strong in a strike
Published: 21st June 2009
Source: Toronto SunMany Torontonians will be understandably furious if city workers go on strike this week.
But the reality is the unions representing those workers will be counting on that fury to work in their favour.
That's because as public anger over losing garbage collection and other services such as daycare, summer day camps, swimming pools, community centres, permit-issuing and the Island ferry grows, it puts more pressure on the city than the unions to settle.
posted on June 28, 2009
Sick pay dicey issue for walkout
By: Royson James
Published: Jun 20, 2009
Source: The StarIf Toronto civic workers strike to protect long-held sick-pay benefits that most other employees don't have or relinquished long ago, their unions are pursuing a risky strategy.
Many issues, including a salary freeze, remain on the bargaining table as Local 79 and Local 416 talk with the city's negotiators to avert a strike early Monday. But the unions have decided to focus on the sick-pay issue. It's not a winner – not with the average citizen.
posted on June 24, 2009
Many services facing shutdown threat
City manager urges patience
By: JENNIFER LEWINGTON AND BRODIE FENLON
Published: Jun. 20, 2009
Source: Globe and MailCurbside garbage collection, city-run daycares, community centres and much of city hall would be shut down as early as Monday if Toronto's indoor and outdoor workers go on strike, city officials said yesterday.
The city's contingency plan, unveiled yesterday, suggests life could become very bumpy for many Torontonians.
It would be especially so for parents with children in the city's 57 child-care centres and anyone who needs a permit - including permission to take wedding photos in city parks.
With a looming strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. June 22 - even as negotiators for Toronto and its two civic unions remain at the bargaining table - city manager Joe Pennachetti released a long list of potential closings and urged residents "to be patient."
posted on June 24, 2009
Union and city dig in on issue of sick leave
Monday strike deadline looms over talks
By: Brodie Fenlon
Published: Jun. 19, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailSick leave remains one of the big stumbling blocks in negotiations between Toronto and its unionized workers as a strike deadline looms less than a week away and the city's non-union employees grumble about possible deferred vacations.
Talks with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 79, which represents 18,000 indoor workers, are under a media blackout. But word from Local 416, representing 6,200 outdoor workers, is that “there's very little progress being made – so big are the concessions the city is asking for,” CUPE spokeswoman Pat Daley said. “It looks like they're going to be negotiating right to the deadline.”
posted on June 24, 2009
What’s the deal with union benefits?
Unions in PR battle for benefits in bad times
By: Megan O'Toole
Published: June 19, 2009
Source: National PostCatholic schoolteachers in Toronto can bank 20 sick days a year and use portions of sick leave for their own criminal court appearances - provided the charges do not stick.
Manitoba Hydro workers have negotiated a nine-day work cycle, with every second Monday off.
Shift premiums at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario mean an extra $10 for any employee who acts as store manager for more than three hours in a shift. These are just a few of the generous, and often unusual, union contract perks that many Canadians are likely unaware of, according to Jeffrey Gandz, a professor with the University of Western Ontario's Ivey School of Business.
posted on July 07, 2009
The iconic nature of 18 sick days
By: Rob Roberts
Published: June 18, 2009
Source: National PostNobody was returning my calls at City Hall today, so I wandered over to Yonge Dundas Square -- where a perky television personality MCed a contest to pick an official Toronto song -- and asked the first banker I met for his opinion on the looming strike by 24,000 unionized City of Toronto employees.
“They’re not prepared to compromise on any of their benefits, which in today’s environment I think is very short-sighted,” said Tony Porco. “I have no sympathy for the employees. The reality is that times have changed. You have to be flexible. What are they going to do: hold a gun to the head of the general public and raise taxes again for some garbage workers?”
posted on June 28, 2009
After years of wild spending, how can Miller cry poor?
By: Royson James
Published: Jun 18, 2009
Source: The StarMayor David Miller has no business asking civic workers to take a financial hit, accept a wage freeze and help the city deal with what he claims is a "very difficult financial situation we have at the moment."
The mayor lost that moral authority long ago.
Despite a recession, Miller approved wage hikes for council in April, arguing that his councillors, well-paid at $96,805, needed the raise to $99,153. And he did it, even as he hypocritically argued that management staff should have their salaries frozen in light of the worsening economy.
posted on June 24, 2009
Five things you should know about: What the city will do if two civic unions strike
By: Allison Hanes
Published: June 17, 2009
Source: National PostThe city will today announce contingency plans as a strike deadline nears for two Toronto civic unions, which could legally hit the picket lines as of midnight on Monday. Although bargaining continues, the National Post's
Allison Hanes offers five things to know about the plans:
1 The city's non-unionized employees, including managers and supervisors, have been informed they won't be able to take their scheduled summer vacations if indoor and/or outdoor workers strike next week. They are also being trained to do front line jobs (such as prosecute traffic tickets instead of plot legal strategy, for instance). Their association is laying a big guilt trip on the city --and rightly so. The City of Toronto Administrative, Professional and Supervisory Association said in a widely distributed letter that while they agree all hands on deck are needed in the event of labour strife, they were also stripped of their cost-of-living increases and bonuses this year as part of Mayor David Miller's belt-tightening.
posted on June 24, 2009
Toronto unveils municipal strike plan
Pools to be closed, garbage left at the curb, if workers walk off the job Monday
Garbage workers clean up along Spadina Avenue after Toronto's last
garbage strike in 2002.By: Brodie Fenlon and Jennifer Lewington
Published: Jun. 17, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailCurbside garbage collection, city run daycares, community centres and much of city hall will be shut down as early as next week if Toronto's indoor and outdoor workers walk off the job, city officials confirmed Wednesday.
The city's contingency plan, unveiled at a press conference this afternoon, suggests life could become very bumpy for many Torontonians, from parents with children in the city's 57 child care centres to anyone who needs a building permit, parking tag -- even permission to take wedding photos in the city's parks.
posted on July 10, 2009
Garbage strike doom and gloom
The public’s fuming about city workers who are just fighting for the same rights everyone else wants
By: Mike Smith
Published: 16 June 2009
Source: Now TorontoThough Toronto may have a reputation for leaning left, popular reaction to labour unrest here tends to be gauche.
When a slim majority of TTC workers voted to strike last year, the reaction – at least the one we saw on the news – was a kind of confused hatred.
And now, as Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 79 and Toronto Civic Employees Union Local 416 (representing indoor and outdoor city staff) signal a standstill in negotiations, a Monday strike deadline looms and newspaper comment boxes overflow with vitriol like unattended garbage bins.
posted on June 24, 2009
Miller warns unions as strike deadline looms
By: Jennifer Lewington
Published: Jun. 16, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailWith a strike deadline by garbage and other workers only 10 days away, Mayor David Miller Thursday warned union leaders that they have to take into account the troubled economy and the city’s strained finances as negotiations drag on.
“A strike is bad for everyone. It is extremely bad for the employees and it is bad for the people of Toronto,” Mr. Miller said.
“But we need the workers and their representatives to understand the very difficult financial situation we have at the moment,” he said as he headed into the employee and labour relations committee he heads for a closed-door update.
posted on June 24, 2009
Toronto, largest union back at bargaining table
Unions representing inside and outside workers in a position to go on strike, or be locked out by the city, as of midnight June 22
By: Jennifer Lewington
Published: Jun. 10, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailEditor's note: An earlier version of this story stated incorrectly that the two sides would resume bargaining next Monday.
The city of Toronto and its biggest civic union returned to the bargaining table on Monday, ending an almost week-long impasse.
The city and Local 79 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents 18,000 inside workers, last week lobbed mutual charges of “bad faith” bargaining, with both sides filing complaints with the Ontario Labour Relations Board. At the request of a provincial mediator last Friday, the two sides have withdrawn the accusations.
posted on June 24, 2009
City workers could face strike or lockout June 22
Labour Ministry issues deadline requested by unions
By: Jeff Gray
Published: Jun. 07, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailThe city’s garbage collectors and other unionized workers could be in a legal strike position as of midnight on June 22, as a clock begins ticking on labour talks that both sides acknowledge have gone sour.
Yesterday, the city announced that the Ontario Ministry of Labour had issued what are known as “no board” reports at the request of each of the city’s two unions, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Locals 79 and 416. The orders set a 17-day deadline, making a strike or a lockout legal at 12:01 a.m. on June 22.
posted on June 24, 2009
Labour talks bogged down on sick days
City complains union bargaining in bad faith
By: Allison Hanes
Published: June 05, 2009
Source: Financial PostThe sticking point in negotiations between the City of Toronto and its two main civic unions is a plan to reform a sick-day policy that allows workers to bank 18 days a year throughout their career and cash out prior to retirement.
The policy represents a $186-million unfunded liability for the city, and it is an issue the auditor-general has identified as in need of remedy.
The city has presented a proposal to Canadian Union of Public Employees Locals 79 and 416 to institute a short-term disability program instead.
Content last modified on October 16, 2009, at 09:23 PM EST