A reader writes

While commenting on my last article which voiced my frustration with the ongoing strike of trash collectors, A. Meringue suggested:

"Suppose your boss had agreed to give you a pay rise, but kept putting it off, what would you do? "

Very simple. I get a new boss.

"If a third party (the public) was depending on you, and you weren't around to make the deal, whose fault would that be?"

So your reasoning is that you shouldn't only try to hurt your boss, you should also hurt his customers too?  This when they're ultimately your customers as well.  What is the gain?  Is it just to ensure he feels it?

Personally I believe the people deserve to know why a strike is occuring, and especially when it is going to happen.

What if I threw such a tactic at my workplace, just as you suggest. I decide I'm fed up with my boss and his delays so I'm not going to turn up for work just to make a point.  It doesn't matter that many of my colleagues are counting on me to make a deal that will be crucial for them.  Am I more important than everyone else?  Is it fair to not be a team player and throw the game just because I'm not getting my way?  This as opposed to giving your colleagues some notice to make arrangements and preparations for your absence?

What if your heart surgeon decided that he was fed up with not getting the raises he was promised the moment he was due to operate on you? Is your life not important enough? What if every doctor decided it at the same time? Are many lives not important enough?

Trash pickup & ferry service may not be life and death, but it should be realised that everyday people count on these public service individuals for their daily lives and thought it may not be as important to you, it may be very important to them.  What makes you more special than everyone else? 

Every service makes a difference and though it may not always seem like it, many greatly appreciate what those employeed in the public industries do.

Thats why it would be great if we knew their troubles with regards to pay and they took action in a manner that did not hurt their customers so poorly if they have an inssue with management. It means that when they return to the job the next day, instead of garnering disappointment and lack of confidence in the service they provide, they have garnered support. 

The customer is the most important part of the equation. He/she is where the money (or support) ultimately comes from. Without money, there is no raise. Without money, there is no job.

Less workers for more pay

Trash collectors have been striking for over a week now for officially unknown reasons.  While the Bermuda Sun has suggested that it is due to collectors wanting more pay, noone can really say for certain what the cause is.

Personally I've grown quite annoyed with the Bermuda Industrial Union as of late.  Last month I was left stranded in Devils Hole for over an hour before someone kindly told me that the Buses were not running.  Upon calling up the transportation board I was informed of an "emergency meeting" that had been called.  I'm sorry, I don't care what kind of pretty words you want to use, any meeting held during regular hours of service that disrupts that service is a strike.  Similar goes for trash collecting.  Refusal to collect the trash is a strike, not a work to rule as, unless I'm mistaken, collecting the trash falls within the boundaries of the job description of a trash collector.

It is rediculus that these sort of issues cannot be resolved through negotiation before taking planned strike action as opposed to these impromptu strikes where we're not even told the reasoning behind them, which I think is absolutely absurd.  President of the Bermuda Industrial Union, Chris Furbert, should be glad that I no longer have a car as if I did I would have taken my trash and thrown it on his lawn days ago in my own form of protest.

So, as the Bermuda Sun suggests, is this recent strike action related to demands for higher pay?  Perhaps the workers do indeed deserve higher pay, especially considering government's precident for increasing the pay of members of parliament and civil servants last summer, but at what cost? 

One question I've always wondered about is why we have 3 individuals manning each trash truck.  When I was away at school in London, Ontario, trash was collected every 6th weekday as a means to cut costs.  Beyond this, each trash truck was manned by a driver and one individual to collect the trash and throw it into the bin.  If 2 individuals could man trash trucks successfully in Canada, why is it that we have 3 per truck here?

Perhaps I'm just bitter for having watched my trash go uncollected for over a week, but in my eyes, I say increase pay to even more than the $26 an hour but make other cutbacks to compensate - such as 2 individuals per truck.

Archive Entry: Docking on familiar territory

Just looking through some old archives of ideas for articles that I had that I didn't end up following through with.  One that caught my attention was in respect to the docks in Hamilton.  Since it's winter, we've quickly forgotten about how each summer the docks become overwhelmed and it becomes horrendous to be able to get anything through.  I had taken a couple screenshots on google maps of Sir John's proposed move of the docks to the north side of town.  While I havn't gone anywhere with the concept in terms of a full piece, I thought I'd post the screenshots anyway and perhaps revisit it again later.

Our current docks:

Compared to... 

The wide open space above government house (sorry Mr. Governor, Bda might have to come first)

I really can't help but look at that and see it as a perfect spot to relocate our docks to.  I have little doubt that the issue will resurface and when it does, perhaps I'll retouch on this thought again

Do you see the light?

One thing I've really noticed lately is the lack of adequate lighting in Bermy. A great many streetlights are out or blinking. Even in the areas where light is provided, it is far from abundant.

Who wants to walk through town, or down dark streets where light is poor?

All I can ask is where is the light