Car “Charges” Picket Line [Video]
Unions; not just a nuisance to employers.
At York University in Toronto for the last week the Faculty, Teaching Assistants, and Graduate Assistants have been on strike. As part of their strike action they have taken to erecting “information blockades” on roadways around the University, holding vehicles for two minuets for a quick chat.
Friday, this video of an altercation with one such barricade and a driver was taken by a union supporter and posted to YouTube and various blogs around Toronto.
It used to be that striking was an action against your employer, not the whole community. It seems idiotic at best that unions think detaining people who have no stake, or interest, in the dispute will garner support for their side. The fact that this has happened so early in the game should be a clear sign of that.
Not only has the union potentially derailed York students education and even financial stability, but they find it necessary to inconvenience residents, students at the Seneca campus who still have classes, and disrupt public transportation routes. Rather then only target members of the administration which the dispute is with in their “educated” wisdom.
While From My Bottom Step regularly sides with pedestrian rights and I would never suggest you roll through a union barricade, when you harass 100 people from getting to their destination who have nothing to do with your drama someone is going to lose it. So don’t act surprised.
Neither should the city allow TTC drivers to refuse service to the University community as a symbol of solidarity with their union brethren, making paying customers walking 25 minutes from the nearest stop becuase the bus won’t cross picket lines. Any other public service union, like the police, wouldn’t be able to do such a thing.
You would think there were laws against this sort of nonsense, blocking public roads and the TTC refusing to service their routes, and maybe there should be.
Should unions be allowed to disrupt traffic, entire communities even?
© Fowler Media
Unions had their place when Employers were taking advantage of the Workers. Now it seam that the “workers” are not just taking advantage of the employers but of anyone even remotely involved.
As far as I am aware with any type of protest/picket, the blocking of a roadway whether by people, vehicle or obstacle should be illegal. Hell, if I decided to lay down in a street for whatever reason the police will remove me by force, why should this be any different?
Would you rather have us make a return to pre-1900 when virtually everybody who could, worked 10/6 in a factory that didn’t allow collective bargaining? To the post-Depression bloody battlefields?
You’re right Greg, allowing the free flow of traffic would certainly send us back to the 1800’s.
I support the right of workers to organize and to set up information picket lines and to strike (except in essential services) and to engage in other political activism. Those rights were very hard won and it did involve a lot of bloody conflict.
Unions do still have a valid place in our society.
Not if they insist on being a disruptions to everyone but their employers.
I enjoy your completely bias title; “charges” into picket lines, as if to imply that the driver didn’t actually charge his car into a pedestrian, when clearly he did. If the topic of discussion is simply about how the strike should be organized then I don’t really have much to object to. I understand that it’s frustrating to those who go to Seneca or are simply just trying to get on campus. I will say this though, *regardless* of how you may feel the picketers should run the strike, running your car into a pedestrian is totally unacceptable. To those who try and justify this behavior by saying “well they shouldn’t be blocking the roads!” come on, if someone is Jay walking do you just hit them? No. Use some common sense. Have some patience. I don’t believe it will kill you.
Emily: Running your car into a pedestrian is a criminal act regardless of how frustrated the driver may be. Even if the pedestrian happens to be engaged in their own illegal behaviour (I’m not suggesting that these picketers were). Unfortunately, there are drivers out there who think it’s okay to run down pedestrians in certain situations. Like when pedestrians are crossing mid-block, they seem completely unaware of the HTA provisions that require that they slow down or stop if necessary to avoid collision. Or when pedestrians are trying to get to a store in a plaza that didn’t have the brains to provide sidewalks. Most unfortunately, the drivers usually get away with it. At least, here in London they do.
Maybe you should check the definition, but a slow roll isn’t charging. It’s clear that the title of you’re video and the title of the post on the CUPE site is 100%hyperbole. As for common sense, the picketers probably could have used some that day, as most people with common sense don’t continue to stand in the way of a moving half ton weapon aimed at them and “charging” unless they are suicidal.
Perhaps some background is in order, for me as much as for anybody who happens to be reading this discussion. And I appreciate the fact that everybody’s going to fully express their opinions without getting into any personal attacks.
Having just spotted the hyperlink in John’s article when I went back to re-read it and watch the video again, I clued into the fact that the “charges” in his headline is a reference to the headline of the article where the video originated (the video sub-committee of the CUPE 3903 Communications Committee). That headline was “Undergrad takes video of car charging lines.”
Emily: Are you the same Emily who posted that article and the video? If you are, then perhaps you can send me a confirmation from the ‘cupestrikevideo’ addy that’s listed on the original article’s site? Also, I’d appreciate you telling us if you personally shot the video, and whether or not you have any particular connection with CUPE? And rest assured that I’m not trying to set you up if the answer to the last question is yes. I’m a former exec. member of the NDP and I’ve walked a number of picket lines in my time.
John: I agree with you that the vehicle wasn’t going fast enough to satisfy my personal definition of “charging” but I don’t agree with your inference that the picketers weren’t displaying common sense. But I’m going to ask that we wait for Emily to respond before we get into that discussion.
Yes I did personally take the video (although that is not me saying ‘calm the xxxx down’) and no, I am NOT a CUPE member. I have nothing to do with CUPE. I am a third year social work student at York U and just so happened to be walking by when I took this video. I wasnt on the picket lines. I understand how frustrating this strike is because I am a student who is directly affected BY the strike. The reason why I turned on the camera in the first place is because this guy was freaking out; swearing at the CUPE members, putting his elbow on the horn and not letting go, and just being a spazz case.
With that being said, I think it’s really interesting that people seem to assume that I must be a CUPE member to have taken this video (not saying that you drew that conclusion, Greg). You don’t have to be a CUPE member to see all sides of this battle. There ARE students who actually support the union and agree that the pressure needs to be put on York U as an institution. I won’t get into arguments.
The point is, REGARDLESS of whether or not you agree or disagree with the strike, can we all really justify the behavior of this guy driving? Yes, you can say “hey, get off the road!! you shouldn’t be there!!”, but honestly, isn’t that a little immature? Can we not all agree that the right to strike is important? If not, then maybe you should try living in a country where you don’t have that freedom and let me know how that works out for ya.
“Can we not all agree that the right to strike is important?”
Yes it is important HOWEVER you must conduct the strike in a safe fashion. Regardless if the driver of the vehicle did something wrong you have to admit that pedestrians blocking a roadway intentionally is not the smartest nor safest thing to do.
I am all for striking and pedestrian rights but I am also for common sense and thinking before you act.
I think it can be said that the driver of the vehicle did not have common sense and did not think prior to his actions but neither did the pedestrians.
Emily: Thanks for the additional information.
Kevin: When the pedestrians blocking a driver from reaching the roadway are engaged in a legal strike action, that’s a special case. It’s a convention that has evolved over many decades and is a compromise between what management/union actions often otherwise used to lead to. That being the case, the striker pedestrians have a justified expectation that their obstructive behaviour is safe. Mind you, there are reasonable limits to how long such obstruction should last, under various circumstances. Most often in my experience, the police understand the complexity of the situation and manage it fairly well (that wasn’t always the case though). Drivers never have the right to strike pedestrians with a moving vehicle, no matter how provoked they may be. They are always responsible for being in full control of that vehicle and slowing it or bringing it to a complete stop to avoid such collision if it’s at all possible. If drivers believe that they are being obstructed by behaviour that is illegal, they always have the option to call police or hope that they will happen by.
I fully agree that drivers never have the right to strike pedestrians with a moving vehicle, however, I don’t believe for one minute, whatever reason people cite, that it is ok for people to willingly block traffic and place themselves in harms way.
Regardless if it is a convention that has evolved over many decades and is a compromise between what actions used to lead to it is still an act of stupidity and I believe it is something that should be considered illegal (which I believe it is already).
As for the police managing the situation and it’s complexity, I would argue that if the police were actually doing their jobs correctly the strikers would not be allowed to obstruct a roadway in the first place. Perhaps if the police force in this case (as is the case in most locations) actually followed the rules rather than acting on their own discretion (which they will never admit they did) this situation and others alike would have never come to this.
Looks like it was all for nothing. In fact it looks like a lot of them will now be losing their jobs becuase of the damage they have done with their strike based on ideology rather then practicality.