Uh.. since when is the transit tax, which subsidizes translink, going to pay for the Olympics?
GVRD transit has one of the lowest breakdowns of all transit systems in US or canada. Your info on unions are misguided at least, and wrong at others. CMA is a union, call it what you want, its still a union. You seem to knock what you feel is wrong, but best you dig a little deeper before you make statements that show what little you know about transit or their unions.
Just what transit system are you talking about, check some facts first. I've seen the figures for NA and Vancouver is in the top 5 in all aspects. Unions are to protect workers from people just like you. They are not useless, many large corp. would rather deal with a union then with 3500 workers, one at a time. Think about the logistics a little before sprouting off. Also I'd bet the other city was union too
How exactly would unions protect anyone from me? I've never had a single unionized employee working for me.
Don't forget the drinking and driving bus drivers, the union keeps them from getting fired all the time.
Transit gives a leave of absence to drivers convicted of DWI, if it happens again they're gone. You of all people should know that there is about the same number of drunks in all jobs, tho MDs have higher numbers than most. The unions have no special powers to keep someone from being fired, each case is determined by a ruling by the Labour Relations Board. Run them down,not the union that represented the worker.Also I know you would be shocked to find out how many CEOS would rather deal with a union , then with 3000 workers. Try and think a little bit about a company that needs to know it has a stable workforce for x number of years, before bidding a job. Your redneck is begining to show a bit. you need to look over the hump in your wallet and see that those jobs are held by real people just like you, and they should receive the same respect.
I bet if you asked the CEO's of every major corporation if they would rather keep their employees medical and retirement benefits and coffee breaks or be rid of it, almost all (if not all) of them would say that they would rather get rid of their employees benefits and coffee breaks.
I personally know a bus driver who got caught drinking on the job by other drivers MANY times but the union rep told the other drivers that they'd be in big trouble if they reported him. Just like the union pressured all the ferry workers not to cooperate with the police investigation in the sinking of the ferry up north.
You just don't get it do you? Alarge corp that has to bid on jobs ie like Dams , bridges etc. use unions because they get trained workers that know their jobs. Try finding good tradespeople for a 500 million job , you won't. They are all in unions. Take the union out of transit , lower the wages and all the trades would go to union jobs and there are lots out there. The buses would be repaired by people with no expeirence, no special training over years on the type there. You think there is breakdowns now, think of your family members riding that bus and a wheel falls off, because the mechanic you've got is in last 5 % of his class and he's the best transit got. You need to look at the real world and see how thing work. Large companies , not service industry like walmart, mickie D, need skilled workers they can depend on, and know they have them for x years. Think oilsands, dams, hydro plants . not if you want curly fries or not. Ask the CEO of those companies what they would like to have. These people have the right to do the best for themselves, just like you. The CMA is to better the members lives, just like a union, so lets not have semantics cloud the basic fact that all people want to better their lives. So let the people do that without unfounded antidotes turning the public against them.
