The ATU (Almagamated Transit Union) has long had a history of holding Toronto hostage to its demands, recent history not helping that vision at all when the ATU suddenly went on strike, leaving the public stranded, after promising not to do so. Kinnears reasoning? He was worried about public reaction. In other words, he's blaming the public.

That's continuing with the latest series of TTC "scandals" as picture after picture of employees shirking their duties surface on the Web. Kinnear essentially lashed out the public for their termerity in taking these pictures and posting them. Well, I've got news for Bob: the public is your employer.

Yep, the public, through fares and taxes, pays the wages of every single TTC employee. That goes from the top boss all the way down. Every single one. As the employer, the public not only has a right to know when an empoyee is screwing up, they have a need to know. They also have a right to cast judgement on said employee when it happens. In other words, every single time a TTC employee mistreats the public, they've sent a "fuck you" to their boss.

Does the ATU get this? Not at all. In fact, it's a classic case of the inmates running the asylum. Until the public takes action and categorically demands that the politicians respond and do something, this will not change. I hate to take an entry out of the Reagan playbook, but the quick and simple answer is this: fire them. Every single one of them. Break the union and break it hard. Within a couple of weeks, you'll be staffed again, but without the Union running the show. Then, and only then, will the employees of the public be held accountable to their employers.

In other words, it's high time that public servants learn the meaning of the word "servant" and followed it. If they aren't willing to do so, then they must be let go and replaced by someone that does. We don't serve them.

As a final note, the ATU would have won back a lot of public support if they had of just come out and said that, as a group, they do not support employees that fail to do their jobs without the utmost care and regard to their passengers. That's all it takes. They couldn't do it, they just had to defend the indefensible and thus have further alienated the public from them. Net effect, expect to see the camera eye get larger and larger.