Thursday. Thursday is the day we find out how much longer this transit strike of ours will last. There's a small part of me that is crossing his even littler fingers in hopes that the wonderful drivers, maintenance staff, and others will vote (thanks to some federal intervention), to have their say on the city's most recent offer, in favour of the offer. this means buses, after multiple inspections and revving up, will be back within one and a half weeks from now. The bigger part of me, ever sceptical, knows that the vote will ruin any chances of getting back to travel normalcy and that buses won't be back on the streets until the better part of January - at the earliest. A little Transit Union-run website has this lovely message for its members:
BREAKING NEWS - January 4th, 2009
Forced Second Vote On City's Latest Offer Details KnownDear Brothers and Sisters,
The vote ordered by Minister of Labour Rona Ambrose and conducted by Canada Industrial Relations Board will be held on:
Thursday, January 8th, 2009
6:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Civic Centre – Lansdowne Park on Bank Street
FREE PARKING AT LANSDOWNE PARKPlease be sure to bring photo identification with you as well as OC Transpo identification on the vote as the Board officers may require it.
Please be sure to vote to reject this offer and show the City our solidarity.
Your future, your families future and your Union's future depends on this vote.
Please, vote NO.
I have to wonder why this whole process is being drawn out, not unlike a kid looking to hear stories, tell stories, get water, and inspect for monster activity every nook and cranny to avoid going to bed. Any decent person would expect that both sides of any work stoppage, especially one that cripples a city, would work long and hard to resolve their differences. Instead of picturing a bunch of balding, middle-aged men sitting at an uncomfortable table in a windowless, cigarette smoke-filled room into all hours of the morning, I see text messages bouncing back and forth from one blackberry to another:
MaireLaire613: wanna go bak 2 werk?
ACorn279: R U GONNA WIN UR NEXT ELECTION?
MaireLaire613: i'll txt u after my ski trip.
ACorn279: CAN I COME? I JUST WAXED MY SKIS!
MaireLaure613: r u gonna win ur next election? lolz
OCMercy: burn!
Winter break is over and classes are starting. I imagine many students have worked hard at making exams when the strike started, then relegated their time to becoming hermits, just staying at home whenever possible (or a friend with a fancy car comes along). The weather for my walk to school tomorrow morning: cloudy with sunny breaks, and a high of ohmygosh I still need to walk a hour to get to school! And I shouldn't even be complaining all that much, because at least I can get to my classes in a reasonable amount of time with a reasonable amount of effort. All the walking I'll be doing this week will render my Wii Fit useless.
And it's -3C, for the record, feeling like -9C. Where's my scarf?
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