The moment you stoop to insults you have lost the argument. It indicates you’ve let your emotions ruled you.

Regarding Point #1:
If your leg is healed, do you still use a crutch? Just because something is helpful in the past does not mean it remains helpful for all time.

Point #2:
I worked in I.T. We had and still have no job security. Such is life. According to the London Free Press, an issue was security (as in protection from nasty riders) on the job — which I understand given the nature but then why not trade up a pay hike to pay for said security?

Point #3:
Don’t suggest a career change as an argument. It’s a strawman at best. Don’t use dramatics either regarding having ‘lives in their hands’; I’ve been on a bus that’s collided with other vehicles. The bus wins.

So far, the pro-union arguments have all been weak. The ONLY argument that was based on any sort of logic or proof was regarding point #1, and that’s basically been neutralized. The rest has been an emotional sound-off more than anything else.

Point 1 – That may be true. I’ve stated before and will repeat here that unions have done some good and are still necessary in the developing world in order to improve working conditions there. Here in North America though, I believe they’re almost obsolete. In fact, the one industry I believe could use a union is the childcare industry — too many childcare/daycare workers are underpaid and centres are understaffed.

Point 2 – Ernie Eves was a jerk and I’m glad Ontario is rid of him. As for job security, it sounds like you’re saying that the DriveTest employees want more job security than current labour laws allow for. If that’s true, that’s simply another example of unions wanting special treatment, as if they’re better than the rest of us.

Point 3 – I quite enjoy my current career, thank you. In previous job searches I don’t recall seeing advertisements for LTC drivers at $20-something an hour. I don’t doubt there’s a shortage of drivers given the initial stoppage of “voluntary overtime” by the LTC drivers and it being revealed that it’s unlikely that city hall will pony up more dough to hire more drivers. I’m willing to bet that someone’s slacking in not putting together the proper business case (i.e. paying overtime costs much more than hiring a few more drivers) to the LTC and city hall, though I could be wrong. Also, childcare workers still take far greater responsibility into their hands everyday and get paid far, far less than bus drivers. Why don’t you go help their cause instead?

Point 4 – At least I have the fortitude to publicly state what I believe and leave comments open to people who disagree with me. That’s a lot more than can be said for many right-winged bloggers (I’m a centrist).

AL M:

So in your view of the world only the rich are entitled to have money.

The people that actually make and do things deserve nothing.

Al, you don’t have a good understanding of why I wrote this entry and my philosophy.

You are incorrect in saying that, in my view of the world, only the rich are entitled to have money. How you gleaned that from what I wrote last night is beyond me.

Everyone actually makes or does something, so that’s a ridiculous statement to make. In fact, I do both – I make and do things – but I get paid far less for the work I do than transit drivers despite the fact that my job involves skills that not just anyone could pick up overnight.

My point of contention is the fact that the LTC drivers drive buses all day long – something that any Joe Blow could do with a bit of training. On the other hand, not everyone can be an Accountant or build a robot, can they? Yet these drivers already make more money than some people in both of those professions and they want MORE.

What I have a problem with is the, in my opinion, overpaying for such a menial task. And as we embark on a new Transportation Master Plan for the city, things like this have to be addressed now in order to make sure that everyone can actually take advantage of the various modes of transportation the city offers. The current transit rates are already upwards of what the people who use transit the most can afford – $30/hour wages will only make the problem worse.

Screw the people that don’t like ‘scabs’. There are tons of people out there who want a job and would love to get off EI’s ridiculous 55% of their previous income. I say, make the most of it and get going on a new transit system. $30 an hour to drive a bus and give crap service is INSANITY.

The people that actually make and do things deserve nothing.