The union of OC Transpo drivers threatened to picket the city’s Para Transpo service if the city brought in additional drivers to deal with increased demand. Para Transpo is not part of OC Transpo. It is a service for the really needy, disabled people for whom walking is not an option, not even when it’s not -30 below, like this morning. By threatening to picket, the union makes once again crystal clear a point that has been obvious since the beginning: their utmost contempt towards the residents of Ottawa. It is for this reason that I support the city’s unwavering position. The drivers had other options, like work-to-rule. By choosing to go on strike in the middle of winter, by choosing to picket sites such as city hall that have nothing to do with transportation, they’ve made their feelings clear towards the nearly one million residents of the city… if we don’t feel compassionate towards their supposedly just cause, they only have themselves to blame.
Jan 152009