Enzo Cuts Through The Crap (Garbage)

City workers strike: week three and counting Five burning questions answered

Compiled By Enzo Di Matteo

Why did striking city unions oppose spraying temporary dump sites for pests?

Officially, they’re concerned about the possible adverse health effects on residents.

But in reality, the last thing the union wants is to make this strike easy for the city to manage. The more uncomfortable things get, the more leverage the union has. It’s slowly turning into a dogfight.

Check the tweets posted by members of Local 416 at twitter.com/local416.

For the record, the Toronto Civic Employees Union is not a fan of the twittering and says it’s “working to have it removed.”

How worried should residents be about the pesticides being used at temporary dumps?

The insecticide being used, permethrin, is generally less toxic than the alternative, organophosphates.

The big concern, says the Toronto Environmental Alliance, are dumps near sports fields, playgrounds and bodies of water.

TEA’s calling on the city to keep parks closed for a time after the strike to allow soil testing and site cleanup.

What should residents do with their garbage?

Hold on as long as you can. There’s no hurry. Get a backyard composter to deal with organics. The earth can use the soil. Which brings us to the green bin, the subject of some controversy this week. If we had a real backyard compost program, the mounds would be piling up a lot more slowly. The conservation contradiction: by reducing, are we delaying the critical pressure needed to end this strike?

How much of this strike rests on the outcome of the sick leave issue?

Reality check: for the city, the unions’ wage demands (they’re demanding at least the 3 per cent given police, fire, etc) pose the greatest financial obstacle to a settlement. Not everyone’s cashing in. Full-time city employees must work a minimum of 10 years before they’re entitled to any sick leave payout. Part-time child care, public health, hostel and recreation workers – some 10,000 employees in all – have no paid sick days at all.

Has the mayor miscalculated?

It remains to be seen, but the longer this strike goes on, the more it’s a no-win for the mayor. Voters have short memories. They’re unlikely to remember when the next election rolls around that the mayor took on the unions for the sake of saving taxpayers a few mil. All they’ll recall is the stink and inconvenience (and whatever the city has to give up in the end to make labour peace).

COMMENTS