Mayor Miller

[buckwheat1]

agreement

Because the Union boys gave Ferguson a standing ovation and treated him like a returning conquoring hero. I think even they were shocked that they came out of this so far ahead.

As such, I believe that their response to Ferguson demonstrates that it was a sweetheart of a deal and the Union knows it.

I guess you could make an arguement for "if you start out too high, they will just want more..." Perhaps. But a strike always costs.

Anyway, Miller gave away the store.

If it was me and the Union said, "we are going to end negotiations at midnight on Sunday" I would have said, "Knock yourself out"

If I was mayor, I simply would have hired private contractors to clean up the temporary dumps (like they did in Windsor) and starved the Union out (like they did in Windsor).

If the Union boys were being underpaid, or fucked over, I would feel sorry for them, but the fact is that they were not.

for some reason everyone thinks if you privatetize it your taxes will go down No they'll just use that money somewhere else. the city of windsor says they saved abou30-35 dollors per household

 

[buckwheat1]

politics

We don't all have to agree on politics. I may not agree with Miller's supporters, but I don't question their desire to make Toronto a better place.

The question is - is Toronto now better (safer, more prosperous, better quality of living, etc) having been under Miller's direction for six years?

I don't think so. What evidence exists to the contrary?

knowone can keep the city clean with all the assholes throwing there Tims cups out the windows onto the roads

 

[Mia.Colpa]

The question is - is Toronto now better (safer, more prosperous, better quality of living, etc) having been under Miller's direction for six years?

I don't think so. What evidence exists to the contrary?

I thought this thread was about Miller's handling of the strike, not on his overall performance as mayor. I might have a different view on that, but for this purpose, I still believe he did an ok job handling the strike, could he have done better?, yes but it was acceptable, a C plus.

 

[calloway]

I hope he gets a few weeks off now and takes his family on vacation

The voters wiill soon put him on a permanent vacation.

 

[A_Cee]

^ We will see. People can complain and argue for hours about what is wrong . When it comes time to vote, they will not even spend ten minutes to go cast a ballot.

 

[FOOTSNIFFER]

^ We will see. People can complain and argue for hours about what is wrong . When it comes time to vote, they will not even spend ten minutes to go cast a ballot.

Totally agree with this sentiment.
People are too self-involved/self-absorbed/apathetic and pathetic in this town to stand up for what will move this city to where it should be. Miller has just raised taxes while degrading services to the ratepayers. How on earth can that be construed as a good leadership?

 

[K Douglas]

I think he did a great job and did what he needeed to do. I hope he gets a few weeks off now and takes his family on vacation

I hope he takes a vacation too...........permanently. He deserves a big fat F for his handling of this strike.

 

[Damondean]

Right-on!

^ We will see. People can complain and argue for hours about what is wrong . When it comes time to vote, they will not even spend ten minutes to go cast a ballot.

Very few people bother to vote in municipal elections. The lefties usually come out which is why we have a lefty mayor and council.

 

[fuji]

I think he did a great job and did what he needeed to do. I hope he gets a few weeks off now and takes his family on vacation

Assuming that by "what he needed to do" you mean "milk the taxpayer on behalf of his union puppet masters", sure.

 

[fuji]

how would YOu of resolved the situation

I'd have done what Windsor did: Hired contractors on day #1 of the strike to cart the garbage out of the temporary dump sites. That way there is no health issue, and therefore no worry about being sent to arbitration. I'd also have struck a committee to investigate hiring private contractors permanently in case the union doesn't play fair ball.

If the strike goes on more than two weeks then hire replacement workers to pick up from neighbourhoods too. If it goes on more than a couple of months ditch the union entirely and permanently replace them with private contractors.

Under these circumstances the union will strive to reach a reasonable deal and not see the city as a cow to be milked, as they did in Toronto.

 

[fuji]

this is the only thing he could do to get rid of the sick days I get 24 a year

I dunno. How many months would you be willing to go without a paycheque to maintain that?

Two months? Six? Twelve?

If Miller had some fucking backbone he could have waited CUPE out. They can't go without pay forever. Meanwhile the city is entitled to hire replacement workers, but didn't because Miller is a union puppet.

Had we had a real mayor we would have had a different outcome.

 

[spankingman]

Wonder what Mel would have done.?

 

[Thunderballs]

Initially I thought Miller was doing a good job at managing the strike. The temporary dump sites at least stopped people from dumping garbage everywhere which was the problem in the last strike. People were willing to suck it up and endure this inconvenience. Ultimately though he opened sites too close to residents and that cost him a lot of support. He should have cleaned out the larger sites that were away from residents and just kept refilling them. The union would not have liked this but screw them.

He started the strike with a lot of support and I think the people of Toronto would have stuck in there with him. Workers were starting to cross the line and it seemed like he could have waited the union out. He should have stuck to his guns and pressed for eliminating the sick bank for EVERYONE going forward like he said he would. Let them keep what they have banked, I don't think legally he could have taken that away anyway but at least stop this benefit going forward.

In retrospect I actually think his whole strategy was to put up a good show to make it seem like he was being tough with the union but then in the end he planned to give them what they wanted anyways. They got to keep banking sick days at the outrageoud rate of 18 days per year. No sick bank for those not hired yet - who cares! That should have been his minimum starting point. He also gave them a 6.12% raise compounded over 6 years. Pretty good for a recession, I'd say.

He put the city through hell, didn't win the must-win point (the sick bank) and won a very modest wage concession . In short, he showed his true NDP colors. He turned out to be a real disappointment and lost my vote in the next election.

He'll now be off on his next mission - taking down the Gardiner and in typical Miller fashion - without a viable plan B.

 

[fuji]

He should have cleaned out the larger sites that were away from residents and just kept refilling them. The union would not have liked this but screw them.

In fact Windsor had ALL their temporary dump sites cleaned out EVERY NIGHT by contractors. The only reason why Miller didn't do the same thing that Windsor did is because Miller is a union puppet and he didn't want to upset his good friend Mark Ferguson.

 

[Don]

He started the strike with a lot of support and I think the people of Toronto would have stuck in there with him. Workers were starting to cross the line and it seemed like he could have waited the union out. He should have stuck to his guns and pressed for eliminating the sick bank for EVERYONE going forward like he said he would.

My thoughts exactly. The union was cracking. The city, while a little dirty and smelly, was holding out fairly well... especially with the mild weather.

There was a reason why when the tentative deal was struck, union members were so happy... it was that they were barely hanging on.

I was actually supporting Miller the whole time and all I wanted was for him not to cave.

 

[masterchief]

The next step should be to phase in private garbage collection.

That will never happen under Miller and this city council. Remember that the former city of York used to have privatized pick-up as well as Etobicoke. Well until the former counsellor from York fought to break the contract and give it back to the union....guess who that counsellor was....David Miller.

 

[leiria]

Most people have No clue about labour neggotations, how would others gone about it. Remembering we have labour laws and arbitration

I hope they negotiate better than you spell!!!

 

[calloway]

Wonder what Mel would have done?

Called in the Canadian military.

 

[Sammy the Bull]

Cant wait to vote this f__cker out of office

 

[james t kirk]

Initially I thought Miller was doing a good job at managing the strike. The temporary dump sites at least stopped people from dumping garbage everywhere which was the problem in the last strike. People were willing to suck it up and endure this inconvenience. Ultimately though he opened sites too close to residents and that cost him a lot of support. He should have cleaned out the larger sites that were away from residents and just kept refilling them. The union would not have liked this but screw them.

He started the strike with a lot of support and I think the people of Toronto would have stuck in there with him. Workers were starting to cross the line and it seemed like he could have waited the union out. He should have stuck to his guns and pressed for eliminating the sick bank for EVERYONE going forward like he said he would. Let them keep what they have banked, I don't think legally he could have taken that away anyway but at least stop this benefit going forward.

In retrospect I actually think his whole strategy was to put up a good show to make it seem like he was being tough with the union but then in the end he planned to give them what they wanted anyways. They got to keep banking sick days at the outrageoud rate of 18 days per year. No sick bank for those not hired yet - who cares! That should have been his minimum starting point. He also gave them a 6.12% raise compounded over 6 years. Pretty good for a recession, I'd say.

He put the city through hell, didn't win the must-win point (the sick bank) and won a very modest wage concession . In short, he showed his true NDP colors. He turned out to be a real disappointment and lost my vote in the next election.

He'll now be off on his next mission - taking down the Gardiner and in typical Miller fashion - without a viable plan B.

Hopefully Miller is voted out in the next election before he fucks with the Gardiner. (Though I have my doubts that he will be voted out.)