DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed by Splinters are not necessarily the opinions of GTI, it's members, staff, or affiliates. In fact, we all actually think the opposite. We love the city. Hear that? WE LOVE YOU! And we love our rink! We really, really, REALLY hope everyone can just get along, you know? Yeah, get along, so we can get back to playing at our home rink. You know, the one with OUR floor in it that is costing us a bajillion dollars to sit there and collect dust? Can somebody tell me how, in our modern, civilized, progressive thinking, a-turkey-on-everyone's-table society, strikes are allowed to happen? What's the deal with innocent 3rd party folks ending up with their yambags in somebody else's vice, held hostage to these egotistical rimlicking "leaders" as they try to work stuff out? Take the city strike, for example. Here you have a union working without a contract since December, that everyone knows can go on strike this month. So what does the city do? They decide to wait until the strike is looming to have these marathon "my johnson's bigger than your johnson" last minute negotiations. Brilliant. Kinda like me not going to class for 6 months, knowing I've got a 6 hour exam worth 80% at the end of the term - then waiting to open my textbook a few days before the test. Oh wait - that actually happened... Of course, the mayor isn't helping, vomiting such such special, verbal gems as, "well, if they strike during the Pope's visit, they must not care about anybody's religion." Hmmm... such brilliant, watertight logic. Gee - does that mean not dealing with this 5 months ago when it was STILL a problem mean that you don't care about people's religion either? What kind of sound byte is that? What are you - the mayor of Gotham? Maybe instead of Batman, you can shine a flashlight off the CN Tower and Bad Boy will come and save us all... Buttmunch... Now hang on a second, Karl Marx - don't get all chummy with me and start calling me brother, or comrade, or whatever you 9-to3'ers call yourselves. I ain't exactly pro union, either (I hate everyone equally, remember?). Job security? Here's a concept - back in the day, if you're buddies had done a good job, proved they were needed, stayed out of trouble, and made it easier for yer boss to get rid of dogf***ers that don't do their jobs and make the rest of you look bad, then the city wouldn't have a problem with hiring you full time in this day and age. I get caught drinking and driving on the highway, I lose my licence and go to jail. But if get caught drinkin' and drivin' behind the wheel of an orange city truck with a couple of shovels in the back, it's a one-way ticket to a paid vacation at the rehab centre, and a job when you get back - that is if you're not on long term disability, for your psychological illness. See the disconnect, folks? Your glorious unions have pretty much made it so that if you get a job, it's yours for life - no matter what you do (or don't do) to f*** it up. If you force the employer (through the bajillion union regulations that exist to make the performance of any task a royal pain in the ass) to send 6 guys to fill a pot hole, and then make it virtually impossible for them to get rid of chronically underperforming staff, yer damn right they ain't gonna dig themselves into a hole and start voluntarily hiring people permanently. And, on the topic of contract jobs... Let's say on one side, you have Joe Smith, a citizen of Toronto (or wherever) who is a city worker. On the other side, you have Bob Wilson - also a citizen of Toronto (or wherever), who works for Donatellangelorapiniporcancini and Bros. construction, which happens to have a contract with the city. Is Bob a second-class citizen because he works for a contractor, and not the city? Should the world be more concerned for Joe than for Bob? They're both taxpayers pitching into the same bucket - so if that bucket ends up paying Joe or Bob, it don't matter kids. Actually, that bucket should be paying a fair wage to the guy who does the best job for a good price - and if it happens to be a contractor that's getting my taxes, then so be it. Well actually, I'm a belligerent cartoon character, so I don't really pay taxes. Suckers... Here's how it's gonna play out folks. Pro-Union, Anti-Union - it don't matter. The union has the city over a barrel right now, and there ain't gonna be no reach around when the givin'er starts. No pools in the heat of summer... no event permits (that's a kaibosh on Canada Day, Caribana, etc)... The Pope's visit... World Cup celebrations and the ensuing garbage and lack of crowd control 'cuz there's no barricades or city assistance... Stinky garbage EVERYWHERE (yeah - in a city of over 3 million people, who 's gonna line up for 5 hours at one of 6 garbage depots when there's nice open spacious public property just waitin' to be filled with everyone's trash?)... You see where all this is heading? Madness folks, and it couldn't have come at a worse time for good old Melvin. The PR nightmare for him and the rest of city council just came to a festering infected boil, and it's a-pussin' all over the place. And that's where the survival mechanism kicks it - you see, these cats aren't much different than some of the union lifers. They like security and cushy, self-important jobs too - for themselves! Only problem is, they gotta win an election every 4 years or so, or it's back to work like the rest of us. And that's no fun, right? So fix yer gaze on the editorial mastery of City TV anchorslugs, as they commence their assault on all persons Civic. And then watch these counsellors as they start to do back flips in perfect timing to public opinion - which itself will gain momentum in complete parallel with the rising pile and stench of shitty diapers, rotting chicken bones, and used condoms piling up in yards all over Hogtown. |