Letter to Randy Graham of atu279 re: Ottawa Bus Strike

This is a letter to Randy Graham...one of many vice presidents at the union....who is becoming just as bad as Andre Cornellier. He was brought in to supplant Andre as he is a twit and he is falling to Andres style of blame and callousness...These guys may be loved by their members as sincere and honest and caring...which they may be.....but when you are playing with the lives of 850,000+ people you are going to have to expect our rage.....twits. Sent this to the normal newspapers and others.

Randy,

You are grabbing at straws and it shows to people who have a head on their shoulders...as most people in Ottawa do. We are a government city...eh ? Kindly advise how Clive Doucet breaking ranks (and playing politics) from a team that is supposed to be cohesive and working together, and voted in by the people of Ottawa and seemingly working on their behalf, is any different from you cutting strike wages and berating a member who does not agree with your point of view ? Shame on you and all unions my friend. You are grabbing at straws and it shows.
"Randy Graham, international vice-president of the Amalgamated Transit Union that represents the workers, said Wednesday that he finds it unacceptable that a publicly elected official isn't allowed to voice his opinion of the situation"
This publicly elected official is just that. Elected by the public to represent us...the tax paying citizens who are being seriously affected by your unions 'irresponsible' actions. Just as you are representing your members. Would you dare go against the membership and say " This whole thing is not right...Andre is a twit and making us look bad and should not be representative of our team" Ummmmm no.
"The way they've treated councilor Doucet I think is appalling," he said. "They should be ashamed of themselves."
Shame on you and your members for the way they treat non-co-operative OC Drivers. You can deny this all you want but you know it happens. And so do we. You should be ashamed for holding 850,000+ (eight hundred and fifty thousand +) people for ransom. There are other ways to fight your fight whilst your members are back at work driving. You should be ashamed of yourselves for threatening pickets at educational facilities. Shame. You should be ashamed of yourselves for threatening to fight the cities attempts to assist our disabled residents. Shame. You should be ashamed for your public display of callousness and disregard towards the citizens who pay your members. Shame.
"He obviously doesn't get it, he doesn't want to understand it, he wants this to continue and we feel sorry for the citizens of this great city. They have been let down again by this council and this mayor and Mr. Mercier."
Do you honestly think rhetoric like this is productive ? Maybe to your members. Not the general population. We have not been let down by the City....we have been let down by your organization. I understand that it was not about money. Now seemingly the City is going to bend on scheduling but take away the bonus and Andre stormed out....We are tired of hearing you blame this on the City. atu279 are much more at fault than the City. You don't want to break and neither does the City. You both are stubborn and you see this as do we all. Unfortunately there are 10's of thousands more people behind the City, with absolutely no more power than their voice and emails. Thus we are being held hostage as you have the power by denying our public transit and gridlocking the City. Shame on you.
You will obviously get a scheduling system that is satisfactory to you. The public cannot take this much longer and the City realizes this, so they will have to cave. You will celebrate. I strongly suggest that you do not celebrate publicly. The last thing your image needs right now is a photo of union members toasting with champagne at their 'victory' This will cause unreal outrage and you would only be damaging yourselves further. Rather than a win/lose mentality why don't you go for fair/fair.
Stop blaming the public's misery on the City of Ottawa. This is your blame to shoulder. You cannot pull the wool over our eyes.

I'm still against the Ottawa Transit Strike...But...

I am vehemently against unions...especially the Ottawa chapter ATU 279 who are presently still on strike. It has gotten to a point where people are past uncontrollable anger. They are just disgusted. What can they do ? The union is simply not listening at all to us and will not cave. They won't. The City is partially listening to the people by not caving to the unions demands. Someone has to give. Something. The union is being a stubborn child who knows that if they cave their 'power' is diminished. If the City caves they are showing lack of control. I truly believe that the Mayor and 'some' of Council are not being political, and listening to the people they represent....who are angry and fed up with the union holding the City hostage. Look at the union's letter to secondary schools stating that if they accept City funding for assistance in transport, they will be picketed. (come ON !! this is not a direct threat aginst the populace ?) The City is contemplating bringing in non-unionised drivers to help with Para-Transpo....to help with the increase in disabled people requiring transport......disabled people......they too are being threatened with pickets and shutdowns as they are 'scabs'. God, I hate that word. union original. Anyways, you have drivers doing guest columns in the newspaper saying they are sorry for striking but they must continue. You have Ottawa councilors calling pretty much for the Mayor to step down (showboating Mr. Doucet...) You have the public being screwed in 500 different ways. The union saying the City must bend to their will. Stubborn children. At this point, the City and union should go back to the table and work out a 'Fair/Fair deal. Not a Win/Lose deal. What is also expected from the union is celebration. Their mentality through this strike proves that. Take this as you will but at this point it is expected, and tantamount to a terrorist hostage swap and the bad guys thinking it is a victory, and shooting in the streets and celebrating...even tho' they were the bad guys. If the union gets it's demands it should ensure that their members go back to work quietly. No celebrations. No pictures of union members drinking champagne. That will not go over well. The City should take away the signing bonus, give them back their 12.5 (?) hour shift (by removing the extra 1 (one...one...) hour) and adjust the scheduling so that it is a little more fair to newer drivers......junior this. The City will obviously get pressure to end it and cave a bit. But the union has to give also. Do the truce attempts in Gaza sound familiar ? hamas voicing it's demands but still not promising to stop the ongoing rocket attacks and still wanting Israel destroyed. Yes, I am comparing the two as it is similar. If Israel pulls out with no promise from hamas to stop their hatred, and attacks, there will still be celebrating of a 'victory'. This disgusts and boggles people. Such is the World we live in. If the City does end up bending a bit and taking it up the wazoo some, then the union should go back to work quietly....with no celebration. This will just look even worse on your membership. The City has done a good job of standing their ground but as a City Council, it must now think of it's population and end the strike. The union's image will be permanently scarred and there will still be fallout for some time after it's over. Hopefully a certain councilor (Mr. Doucet...) will be tarred and feathered for siding with the bad guys after this is all over. He should have quit politics in disgust if he did not agree with the Mayor and then voice his opinions against the City negotiating team and the Mayor. Bad form dude.

I still hate unions.
Up yours Andre.

Ottawa Councillor Breaks Ranks, and Should be Fired

This is an email I sent to a few news outlets and other politicians with regards to councilor Clive Doucets breaking from ranks and calling th Mayor 'out of touch'...what a freaking twit.....honestly. Just another politician who is using a scandal that is affecting 10's of thousands of people to advance his political ambitions......Unreal.

Clive,

I cannot believe that you are calling your fellow council members 'out of touch'.....
Are you 'out of touch' with what has been going on in the City ? Are you aware of the reasons for this strike at the beginning of recession ? In the winter ? Did the ATU invitation the other day happen for you ? Did you go and talk to them ? Did you go to the dark side ? What's up ? It's mind boggling that you broke ranks with your fellow council member's....and the majority of the populace of the City of Ottawa. Your political aspirations have over-ridden your common senses me-thinks. What are the chances we'll see your name on the ballot for the next Mayoral race in Ottawa ? Pretty good I would say from this point of view. Sad, sad way of thinking. You my friend are out of touch with the people you represent if you think it is the City and not ATU 279 who is 'out of touch'. We are being held for ransom by 2,300 city employees who don't give a rats fart about us. Their reason for putting it to the public (not just the bus riders my friend...) for this long shows that they are completely out of touch and ignorant to the publics views and concerns. Unions nowadays are completely out of touch with reality and their time has come and gone. Can you impeach councilors ? Maybe fire them ? You were somehow voted in so I would guess impeachment. Your damaging rant is something that would have been expected from Alex.. I guess he panicked when he heard your rant and had to jump on the bandwagon.....Mayor Alex ? Mayor Clive ? Sends shivers down my spine. If you have any conscience and sense of moral obligation, you would have your resignation on Larry's desk by Friday. If you don't like him, then have your assistant drop it off.


Non-Bus-Using-But Still-Screwed-Citizen

Ottawa's Out of Touch Bus Union...

They are still on strike. How many people have lost jobs ? How many business's have closed or are going to ? How much worse do unions look ?
It's hard to believe that the union refuses to come to terms with the fact that they work for an employer who wishes to take more control over their shifts. The scheduling issue is seemingly the main concern. How many people get to control their shifts ? You work when you are asked to work. If you don't like it, get another job. This has been said over and over and over, and some drivers keep saying we the public don't have a clue what we are talking about. I think it is these union members that do not have a firm grasp on reality. They are being brainwashed into keeping the status quo for about 200 or senior union members....out of 2300 on strike. It's just to the point where you can't even get mad anymore. I was furious up to a certain point. Now it's just numbing. Really. They are screwing an entire city...10's of thousands of tax paying citizens (who contribute to their salary by the way)....seemingly so they can spend more time with their family. Ask the people who work evening and night shifts and see their family sleeping when they come home how they feel. I had a job with an evening shift and tried to get to days but could not. I started looking for another job and eventually quit. Simple. I was making good coin with good benefits, but left. I didn't cry. I left. They say they are abused by the public. They are not abused any more than any other person who deals with the public on the front line of public service. Wait 'till they go back to work. Sure....they are going to have a campaign asking the bus riding public to be nice......good luck with that. Another thing that has been said about this union striking is the fact that we are in a recession and people are losing their jobs by the boatload. They should be happy they have one. This privilege should be taken away from them. Almost 80,000 people lost their jobs in Canada in December. 80,000. This brought the unemployment rate from 0.3% to 6.6%. That's quite a jump eh ? And yet they continue striking. Ignorant. Now they are hoping to be considered essential services as they will go back to work and negotiations will forcefully continue....but they will lose their bonus. Who knows. They have rec'd their final full pay cheque recently and now we'll see what happens. The city at this point is offering to give regular citizens who have lost their jobs as a result of the strike 2 weeks pay. This strike is costing a lot of money. You can't think that the city's savings of 3 million a week is a savings. It's not. You could just go on and on about the unions ignorance and continual cutting down of the mayor and the public but you have to end it somewhere. If unions went back to basics and stopped being political and worked in good faith for their membership then maybe they would be worth their cost and burden. Their time has come and gone. They are despised by the majority. Recent studies and polls have proven this. I strongly believe they have forced so many business's and so much work out of the country that part of the recession is their fault. They are most definitely partially at fault for the pathetic manufacturing downturn in Ontario. Their wages and demands are business busting. I digress......back to OC Transpo and ATU 279. I am going to start a petition to ask the city to privatize OC Transpo. Fire all the drivers and re-hire them (if they want the job...) into a private firm at a lower rate. This would be too bad for the ones who are happy with their work and jobs, but the majority have screwed them also.
Privatize OC Transpo. Do not make them an essential service. Break their backs. The union cannot back down as they will be broken if they do. Finished. Andre Cornellier (union guy) is pretty much done anyway. He'll probably have to move if he hasn't already. Unfortunately the city will most likely have to bend to get their captive citizens freed. The union, as small minded terrorists do, will celebrate a victory. This will not be a victory you twits. This means you have to go back to work and deal with us....the public...who you have blatantly screwed. I dare any union member to debate me on the insensitivity and total lack of intelligence with regards to ATU 279 striking this long....at this time of year.
Terrorists.
Twits.

Bell Canada CEO Contact Info...

Can anyone tell me how to find the email address for the CEO of BCE or Bell Canada ?

Auto plants closing in the States and Canada...$%&#*!! Unions !!

I just got more ammunition against in my rant against unions. Can you believe that in the States....I have no idea if they have it in Canada but rest assured I am going to find out.....they have a thing called Job Banks ? For anyone familiar with being 'put on the bench' when you work for a company that hires out your skills, and the contract is finished....it is the same thing. You are put to work doing other tasks and training or helping out other departments until they can find another contract for you. If you are 'on the bench' for too long and you are not contributing to the well being of the company (ie: being a drain...), they then terminate or lay you off. As it is too expensive to pay your wages for an extended period of time this is the sensible thing to do. Seemingly the auto union somehow managed to negotiate a contract with the big three where employees from a plant that has shut down or reduced output are put in the job bank.....at full salary...for 4 years. Witnesses have said that they sit on their heinies getting full salary doing nothing....at average $30/hour. $30 an hour. Shit. I can't even imagine the regular benefits they get. I have absolutely no pity whatsoever for these people who expect the government to bail them out. None. Pathetic. And the UAW says it's not their fault the automakers are going tits up....Owwwwwwwwwwww......a monkey just squeezed out of my puckerhole......You my friends are a huge part of the problem. When are they going to slip back to reality and realize this ? Really. They are so far out in left field it's silly. Hmmmm. Honda and other plants are opening brand new plants in the States.....They must be doing something right.....hmmmm. Methinks it's the average $18 an hour and no unions that may have something to do with it....Oh yeah. And making sensible cars that you don't need a ladder to climb into. (This coming from a person who owns 2 North American cars....and the quality shows...or lack of)
Unions are the root of all problems. Do you really think that half of your help line calls would be routed to India if wages were not out of control by greedy unions here ? I can't even go there. That's another whole cluster f__k. Let the auto makers go bankrupt and then terminate all the union contracts and then restructure and reorganise and start fresh...Oh yeah....follow Honda and Toyota's manufacturing/business models. So at this point the US side was asking for I think 35 BILLION and at this point, god knows why, got 15 BILLION. I would like to see the stipulations if any. The Canadian side is asking for 6 BILLION. If and when they get that,which I'm sure they will...and would drop to the floor on the spot if they didn't...there has GOT TO BE STIPULATIONS FOR THE UNION CONTRACTS. And also the cars they make. Bring the auto sector employees back to reality with sensible wages. Bring all wages back to reality and then maybe we would stop losing plants to Mexico and China and India. We are in no position to sit on our asses and have other third world countries do our dirty work. We need the jobs here...in Canada. You know, I think the Conservatives actually see this and I hope they aren't forced to bend to the unions will by this coalition scare. I hope they do not cave in their January budget.

Freaking unions......twits. Did I say SIX BILLION ????

Don't do it Bob......It's Political Suicide !!!

So Bob Rae is going to run back and forth across Canada to beat a dead dog. I don't know about you, but to me it seems he has an air of self importance surrounding him....self-rightousness...you know..' they are all doofuses and I guess I'll have to do it myself '. I commend him on his attempt to keep his party focused on something.....anything. They don't seem too cohesive as of late. Thus one of the reasons we...the Canadian majority...were more than a little concerned about them governing us. (I'm laughing .....) They can't even govern themselves. So here is Bob, thinking in one way that he is showing leadership and commitment to his party by stepping up and trying to push the coalition on us. Not realising that he may make himself look like a responsible leader to some of his cohorts, but to most of us who were infuriated with the coup in the first place, he's still making the coalition look even less inviting than it was before...if that's possible. It's going to die dude. Let it go. We do not want a coalition. We want to keep the present government in place. Do you not get that ? Look to getting your party all focused on the same train of thought (....hint....not the coalition). Concentrate on reforming the only viable opposition party. Your not going to help matters any by pushing the coalition. If you do, chances are fairly decent you have lost the opportunity at leadership of your party already. I congratulate Mr. Ignatieff in advance.
Forget the coup Bob......
Work on your party and then with your government
Stephen has gotten a scare and a slap on the bum. Move forward and help the country. Not yourselves. Twit.

Work Towards a Unified Government...Not a Coalition...Twits

Dion's party does not even want him as a leader. He wants to be the PM ? We want him ?
Layton is a socialist Twit.....
No words for Duceppe.

God. I hate politicians. Yes. The Conservatives are slightly to blame. Got that out. But they are still the best ones to manage this country. Again. Dion lost miserably and is being kicked out as leader of his own party. You got that right ? Yet, they chose him as the lesser of 3 evils to rule as PM until some other no name can come in....not popularly elected. Unreal. Really. Unfathomable. The Conservatives say it like it is usually. Are we the tax payer happy with $1.95 for every vote given to a political party given to that party ? Nope. Five parties. Maybe hone it down to two parties and it would be OK. Place a ban on public sector union strikes for a couple years due to tough financial times ? Sure. Public service employees are well paid. Look at OC Transpo here in Ottawa. Threatening to strike, again at Christmas. Using the general public as a bargaining chip. F____ers. Do I have any respect for unions ? Not even remotely. This is not a 3rd world country where you are working in a sweatshop with a whip on your back constantly and shackles keeping you there. Don't like your job and want to get out ? Walk out the door. I digress. Going off topic. F__k. Look at me. Swearing on my blog. Bonesmokers. The 43% that the papers are showing for people wanting an election if the GG dissolves the present government are all Liberals who are saying...'OH my God, we have another chance' Polls. They are mostly in favour of the Conservatives but those numbers for the other 'routes' to be taken are scary if you believe in polls. 1000 people called...out of a population of how many millions....and Canada decides. Sad really. I hope the rallies do well. I'm going to my first one ever on Parliament Hill. I'm pretty confident the GG will prorogue (whatever) the government at Harpers request today. God I can only hope. That will give people time to see that coalition governments DO NOT WORK. It is a freaking coup plain and simple. The Conservatives have been in office for what ? a month and a half ? And there has been nothing but childish squabbling since. Dion is a big baby !!! How do yuh like me now ? If it had been a year and Canadas economy was in the shitters and we were in a States like recession...then yes....maybe contemplate it. IT's BEEN TWO MONTHS !!!!! Canada is one of the few countries in the world at this time with a strong economy and not in dire financial straits like the rest of the world. Somebody....somewhere....in government...in Canada....must be doing something right....you think ? Get over it you whiny losers. You all lost. You were not voted in. Your election showings were dismal. The Conservatives got in..be it a minority...they were chosen by we the people to govern this country. They are not repressing us. They are not living in lavish castles looking down on us and sticking their noses up whilst we live in decrepit mud houses living in our own filth. They are not stocking their closets with 10' of thousands of shoes while we die in the streets. They are not eradicating the naysayers.

To Dion, Layton, and Duceppe.......Shut the F__k up and get your acts together and help govern this country. Stop squabbling like freaking school kids and unite with the governing party to keep our country strong. Twits.

Where is Dalton ? (or...Dear Dalton...GO AWAY !!)

So. The US election is finally over. First black president. Big change. Bush out. Yay. Time to get back to Canadian politics. Specifically, Ontario. Am I the only person who wishes Dalton and his minions would stop blaming everything that has gone wrong in Ontario on the federal government ? Is it possible that he can grow a set and take some responsibility ? He has been doing this since the day he took office. Remember ? He came in with all his promises and then turned around and said 'sorry. no can do....the previous guys screwed us more than I thought and so I can't keep my promises' I honestly hate the man. Can he be impeached ? Can we get him out ? Bring in some fresh blood ? Someone who can try and get this province back on it's feet ? Stop whining about the federal gov't not liking us ? We are now getting equalization payments. Thats like getting welfare cheques. Never before has Ontario needed these. Thanks Dalton. He wants the feds to sink billions into an antiquated industry as it is thought to be Onatrios 'core' money maker. The auto industry has changed dude. Don't sink any more money into that until you are sure there will be actual change in their thinking. He is talking billions. Twit. Honestly....what a twit. GET OUT !!!!!...I feel better.....Look into lowering the wages that are paid to union workers. Maybe more plants will start to open. Look at other ways to protect the workers other than unions. Stop depending on China and India so freaking much. Get these jobs back to Ontario (or anywhere in Canada for that matter...) How can you compete tho' when they pay their employees $10 or much less (!!!) and hour and we are at lie $20 or more for unionised workers. Unions are driving out companies. Really. Start with unions and take it from there. Stop relying on cars and trucks. There are many more opportunities in the way of manufacturing than cars and parts. GET OUT !!!!! Start off by getting call centres back to Canada. People have a hard enough time with their broken equipment then have to deal with a language barrier. I just can't comprehend having call centres in India. Really. Force these companies like Bell and others to keep their services here. Something, Anything. God your a twit. Get into the publics face. Show us you are doing something. You must not be doing much as you are never in the media. Be a democratic representative of the people...who put you there....and get in our faces with ideas. Show us you are alive. Don't wait 'till vote time. Twit.
DO SOMETHING MAN !!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU ???

Bob Rae and the Liberals are Twits.....As are most Politicians I guess.

Bob Rae is an idiot. So are a decent chunk of politicians with their childlike finger pointing and he said she said....God....it makes me mental. Why can they not just debate their platforms and grow up. Deal with your team crap afterwards.Read the above link first.It's as if some politicians think other politicians did not, and do not, have other personal opinions and that some of us would care about this. Unfortunately he may swing 1 or 2 votes because of this. So, a guy that's running for MP against Rae thought maybe if people had concealed handguns that they would not have watched as a fellow human being was butchered before their eyes. I too think they were pussies. Grab a rucksack or other luggage or piece of wood or something and swarm the guy. Really. See. That's my personal opinion and a chunk of others also. You can look back on it and say that. It infuriated me and a good chunk of the population. Does Rae think this is the only guy that thought...'if they had guns they simply would have shot the crazy freak'. No. He just has no solid political debating or platform to stand on so he has to act like a kid and treat his constituents like they are brainwahed morons and say crap like 'Oh My GOD....the Tory party is falling apart..they are falling like snowflakes'......snowflakes ? It's like flies twit. ("The fact of the matter is I think it reveals something else. I think it reveals the incredible weakness of the Harper team," Rae told CTV's Question Period. "The team is falling off like snowflakes." )"Their candidates are falling off because they can't stop saying stupid things. And this is a reflection on the Harper team and, frankly, also a reflection on Mr. Harper because he's the one who is choosing the team." Mr. Rae should have Mr. Dion sign a contract with the people of Canada which states that in the event more than 2 Liberals have some dirt dug up on them in the future if, god forbid, they get into office, then they will capitulate. As of course they are not fit to govern due to some personal foibles in their party. These remarks have been made by all parties with everyone doing the finger pointing and childlike/US style dirt digging. Grow up and just be concerned with what concerns the country you twits. Elections suck as it is already. Stop your whining. I actually used to have respect for Bob Rae before these comments. Lost now. Twits.