Location Transport

Should bus drivers get away with a strike and leave thousands of people at sea how to get to work?

Here in Ontario, Canada, the bus drivers have made a threat which looks as if they will carry it out if their demands are not being met.. I don't know what else they want but one of their demands is that they want more paid days of sick leave... Not everybody has a car.. I worked as a health care worker .. I am just temporarily not working but I had to leave the house at just after 5 a.m every morning because health care staff have to be at their workplace at 6.45 a.m.. and start work at 7 a.m.. if they do the early shift.. and on Sudays.. I live approx. 8 miles from the capital of Canada.. which is Ottawa.. there is no bus transport to anywhere from where I live until 8 am on a Sunday morning so every time when i had to work Sundays i had to get a taxi and pay for it from my own money as it's up to me how I get to work.. if no bus goes and I have no car I have to take a taxi.. to be reliable and to be always on time and to take a minimum of sick days is expecially important as a health care worker.. Now my husband faces this problem on the 10th...we got no car.. He will have to get a taxi. That will leave 1000s of commuters stranded ...if the strike goes through.. the bus drivers are very much aware what harvoc they can cause and that many many people depend on public transport...also if there are no buses going.. some weeks ago my husband phoned a taxi company the evening before because he had a doctors appointment where it's hard to get to by bus.. but the next day we had snow.. so a lot of people called the taxi company and although my husband had made arrangements the evening before.. they told him that he was 3rd in line and would have to wait.. he called back several times and they told him it would be another hour before anyone could pick him up, he waited but even then the taxi didn't show up so he missed his doctors appointment and just managed to get the last bus to work and had to work 4 hours overtime as he started 4 hours late.. I am afraid this will happen again when the buses strike.. lots of people will take a taxi to work.. and if I was working as a health care worker right now.. and I phoned for a taxi to pick me up at 5.45 am to allow plenty of time to get there before 7.15 am...if the taxi puts me in 3rd place due to snow.. that would be very bad in this profession as punctuallity is of the essence.. the patients have to be toiletted and washed at 7 am sharp and one has limited time and a lot of other tasks to perform.. if you have to look after 10 patients and toilet and wash them and dress them and you don't make it to work on time.. that really sets a bad example.. but also for everyone else who will be waiting in vain on December 10th.. if the buses go on strike.. should one let them get away with this.. or do they deserve a good punch in the nose...? This is just not fair...they can't go on strike.

Public Comments

1. Unions are the root of all evil.
2. First the unions are the cause of all problems. Second stop relying on on other to take care of you, buy a car. You should have a goal to be as self sufficient as possible. It is not the governments job to take care of you, it is your own responsibility.
3. Two words, "Essential service". Transit strikes are no good for the economy or the environment. Making transit systems essential services ensures they cannot strike, and they get fair salaries for their positions.
4. If the people are left at sea, then a bus is no help - they tend to sink. The people would need a seaman. What has a bus drivers strike got to do with the seamen?