This article was written on January 25, 1010 and was published in the Toronto Sun. This article deals with how the Toronto Transit Commission is handling photos being published of three of it’s workers napping on the job. This article dealt with one employee in particular, Robitaille, who was said to have a health condition. He also appears to be on medication that makes him drowsy and has only had this one five minute problem. The TTC has not disclosed what kind of punishment their employees will be receiving for napping on the job. Toronto City Councilors do not want Union workers thinking that their jobs are safe when any sort of mishap occurs.
This is terrible how these workers still have their job. Robitaille can be excused if there is an underlying illness but the other two workers should be terminated. They seem to think that they are above the law because they are in a union they will just give them a slap on the wrist for sleeping at a public service job.
In a time where unemployment levels are hitting record highs the fact that it is still possible to get away with sleeping on the job is just appalling. There must be some discipline put into place on these workers. There have got to be thousands who would be able to do this job better without napping on the job. If it were possible why don’t we all start napping wherever we are working. The employee serving your Tim Hortons would be asleep in the drive thru causing delays on the thousands who rely on Tim Hortons for their caffeine fix. There are so many people who have terrible jobs and work hard to scrape by the bottom of the barrel to live. And then there are those people who happen to be in a union that can go on strike if they choose causing hindrances to millions of people, and yet they can sleep as they choose and still get paid the big dollars.
After so much dispute with strikes and wages there should be punishment as they can continue to cause problems even when they are on the job. They are always asking for more money and more vacation days and yet you can still not depend on them to work. Large unions such as any transit union or teachers union have to be governed somehow and their employees not treated as royalty whenever a problem occurs. They should have to face real world problems, such as termination for sleeping on the job. At any job not unionized if you were caught sleeping on the job (and it would appear that it has been done more than once) there would be no questions asked and you would be terminated on the spot.
If the TTC is run by the city of Toronto they should be facing the same penalties that the rest of the public service workers are facing. That is stricter working conditions and not having the power to do whatever they want and not penalties. They receive their paychecks from the same people that the waste disposal employees receive theirs from. There is no slack in that job, if you are not strong and able another person can easily replace you. And yet all you need to do is be able to do is sleep on the job if you are seeking employment with the Toronto Transit Commission.
-Matthew Kerr
