Why weren't TTC riders alerted to shutdown? ⇒
20 November 2009, lunch time
Shima was telling me this morning about how her coworker paid to get on a train after all the trains had stopped running; he asked the collector why he didn’t say anything when he was paying, and the collector replied, “that’s not my job.” I wonder what it would take for the TTC to lose it’s most-employees-are-jerk-asses image?
This is a post from my link log: If you click the title of this post you will be taken the web page I am discussing.
Unions encourage compartmentalism.
That is a classic member response.
“That’s not in my job description” or “That’s not my job” are part of the vocabulary. There is no bigger picture for some people.
by radmila@gmail.com on November 20 2009, 3:46 pm #
Which of course is a big part of why they’ve got such an image problem. “It’s not my job” doesn’t negate “It’s what a decent person would do regardless of whether or not he was getting paid for it.”
by Matt on November 20 2009, 3:55 pm #
I agree with you Matt…it’s also the culture of the work place. People can learn to feel entitled rather quickly, and when the culture is supported by a union head like Kinnear, this is what we can expect from TTC employees. Obviously, not all are like this, but plenty are.
Continuously being told that your job is unbearable, and that you’re worth more, and that you’re unappreciated creates a culture of resentment for the very people whom without, you wouldn’t have a job.
by radmila@gmail.com on November 20 2009, 5:38 pm #
The private sector is filled with this sort of stupidness as well. This is less about unions and more about large corporate structures. Once I start having to deal with people in my much larger parent company, I start coming face to face with this sort of stuff.
by ramanan on November 21 2009, 2:52 pm #
True.
But, no one can complicate a situation better than a union rep who has to justify his/her position (see Kinnear as an example).
Gigantic organizations like the TTC, the government and TDSB are stellar at spending more money fighting union intervention than they invest in service. It’s a vicious circle.
Don’t let union rhetoric let you buy the hype. They’re are businesses as well.
by radmila on November 21 2009, 6:23 pm #
I wonder if there has been any research done about whether things like the TTC would run better with non-unionized labour? Would staff be more dedicated/less surly? I mean, they seem pretty damn unhappy at the moment.
by M on November 23 2009, 4:38 pm #