That’s more like it: TTC meetings return, this time with some action
The last time the TTC union held a meeting with the public, things were distressingly polite. There was very little shouting, sincere apologies from the front-line staff and some very bored reporters. Well, somebody got the memo, because yesterday’s meeting had everything a good show needs to succeed: shouting, confrontation, a discussion of bodily fluids, and, in an example of ethnic casting we didn’t think anyone could get away with in 2010, an Asian-Canadian senior taking a cocky young whipper-snapper to task.
Why won’t veteran bus driver Jeff Gill let customers hand him their transfers? Communicable diseases.
Why must passengers wait while a driver steps away for a break at 3 a.m.? Because that driver is working eight hours without a scheduled break and 3 a.m. is probably the quietest time.
And why should Councillor Adam Giambrone lose his job as TTC chair? Well, just ask 72-year-old Mai Cheng, one of the transit users who [demanded his resignation on] Sunday during the second of three town hall meetings organized by the Amalgamated Transit Union.
There were also more complaints this time around about the format of the meetings, with questions chosen at random and questioners given only a minute to speak. (Union reps got more time to answer.)
Back in the real world, TTC staff report that relations with customers are improving noticeably. We hope so, because if the meetings keep getting worse, the third and final meeting will consist entirely of bare-knuckle boxing.
• TTC union holds court [Toronto Sun] • TTC staff get rough ride at townhall [Toronto Star]
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