Jul 102009
 

Now this is friggen’ AWESOME.

 http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/663812

Usually a vibrant neighbourhood gathering place, Merrill Bridge Road Park near Woodbine and Danforth Aves. sat empty as city work crews sat on picket lines.

So MacLean called her neighbours and organized a grass-cutting evening earlier this week. Eight lawn mowers tackled the grass, which had grown to nearly knee height. Suddenly, the park was alive again. The dog-walkers returned within minutes.

The city belongs to everybody, not just the striking workers. It belongs to the taxpayers,” said MacLean, a resident of the Beach. “We have to stop relying on the city to provide everything. The community has to take some kind of ownership and that’s what we’re doing.”

Damned skippy, Ms. MacLean!

But of course, there’s always another side to any story:

But the striking Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 416 is warning citizens who take maintenance into their own hands.

“You could use the word `scab,’ ” said local president Mark Ferguson. “Whenever we see people performing bargaining unit work during a labour disruption, it’s certainly not helpful. Those actions only lead to prolonging the disruption.”

Ah, Union thugs making veiled threats against people who just want to have a nice park again. And there are some people who wonder why I’m down on unions.

An interesting economic experiment could follow. As a result of the strike, the citizens have decided to take care of their park themselves. If they are willing to do this *now,* perhaps they’ll be willing to *keep* doing this. Which means the city won’t need to hire union workers to do this. Which means the strike can be ended by simply pointing out to the union that when the strike is over, there will be fewer of them on the payroll. And the longer the strike goes on, the more the citizens will do for themselves… and the fewer workers still will be needed. Hurray for strikes! Keep it up long enough and you’ll ALL be out of a job.

 Posted by at 5:30 pm

  One Response to “Lawn mowers in hand, residents reclaim parks”

  1. The same stuff has been gong on in Windsor Ontario for some time now. It is awesome to see!

    http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/05/30/windsor-city-strike.html

    I work for myself and earn every cent I make to support my family and home. They should be happy to even have a job in a town like Windsor where Automotive used to be the backbone and thousands are out of work. I have no doubt many of those former auto workers would be happy to take the city job so they can keep their houses and feed their families.

    Ass-fucking-holes.

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