State of the Union

A couple of years ago, as I was finishing up my final year of journalism school at Ryerson, I tossed off a comment in conversation with some of my Ryerson Review colleagues about a potential TTC strike (the TTC actually went on strike in May 2006, after graduation, but if memory serves the possibility of job action had been raised several weeks prior to the walkout). My comment went something along the lines of, "TTC workers are overpaid, rude and selfish for holding the public hostage, etc. etc." 

To which my professor slyly responded, "What kind of lefty are you?" referencing the fact that I had written and interned for the very liberal This Magazine. The question gave me pause - perhaps because I didn't realize how my comment trampled on traditional left-wing values, or perhaps because I didn't like being labeled as a lefty.

At any rate, the TTC and its union managed to raise the question again with another strike this weekend. This time, the union shut down service at midnight on a Friday, less than an hour after voting down a tentative deal. The decision left thousands of partygoers, shift workers and other stranded, and resulted in back-to-work legislation from the province. 

The TTC is back in operation today, but the whole affair has been yet another PR disaster for the union. The general feeling among the public, I think, reflects the kind of sentiments I expressed to my Ryerson colleagues a couple of years back. For a sampling of what some folks are saying, check out this Toronto Star forum.

Majority opinion aside, my professor's question is still a tough one. Support of unions is a pillar of left-wing politics, after all, and there is a part of me that feels I should be on the workers' side in this dispute regardless of any personal inconvenience. On the other hand, unions don't seem to stand for the same things they used to. In fact, they don't seem to operate any differently than the most piggish capitalist corporation, motivated exclusively by self-interest and greed and unable to grasp the concept of having "enough."

Two years ago, had I been quick enough, I might have responded to my professor with a question of my own: is the union an outdated concept? After the latest TTC strike, I find myself leaning toward an answer that might not please the dyed-in-the-wool lefties in the crowd. But I would defend that position by pointing out that, while unions were once a necessary tool for workers to protect themselves against abusive and neglectful employers, too many of them exhibit the same characteristics as the "establishment" forces they're supposed to oppose. 

You know there's trouble in union-land when even the NDP tells you to get back to work. Looks like it's possible to be a lefty and a union skeptic at the same time.