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rfmcdonaldMayor Ford today announced that the city is going to privatize garbage collection west of Yonge Street, on the model of the former western Toronto municipality of Etobicoke.
The head of the relevant Toronto union is hostile to the idea, saying that costs will increase. But then, even if people did believe the union--which they likely don't--memories of the summer 2009 garbage strike which saw garbage bags littering the parks selected as impromptu collection sites.
Mayor Ford got elected on the basis of populist outrage, particularly in the suburbs and on the newly-engaged immigrant sector but not only, against the perceived high-handedness of Mayor Miller's New Urbanist-themed government and powerful unions. People's memories of the garbage strike--and of Etobicoke's sparing of the stench--mean that, in all certainty, the partial privatization is going ahead.
Similarly, popular anger with the Toronto Transit Commission's workers, seen as hostile to commuters and--perhaps wrongly--completely unaccountable means that, during the upcoming contract negotiations, the city government is going to have a fair amount of popular support if/when it plays hardball. The union's offer to not strike during contract negotiations--part of an effort to avoid the TTC being declared an essential service, thus reducing the union's maneuvering ability--is recognizable as a desperate attempt to hold off the government. Not that it'll work, mind. The 2008 wildcat strike managed to anger everyone who depended on the TTC, one of my work managers--a calm, intellectual, well-spoken type--repeatedly calling the workers "fuckers" the morning after. With articles by populist journalists like Rosie DiManno (i.e. "TTC drivers kick courtesy to the curb") leading the cause, even if there are extra costs involved I think that an anti-union approach of Ford will do well. Who knows? He might even broaden his support.
For 16 years, Etobicoke has had private curbside garbage pickup, a holdover from pre-amalgamation days that saves about $1.8 million a year, according to a 2007 audit.
When Toronto was hit with a 16-day garbage strike in 2002 and a 39-day strike in 2009, collection in Etobicoke went ahead as usual.
Toronto Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday, who led the privatization charge as mayor of Etobicoke in 1995, said the service became more efficient when Turtle Island took over the contract from the city, cutting the number of employees to 33 from 71.
However, that doesn’t mean Etobicoke residents are more satisfied with the quality of service.
A Star analysis found that almost half of service calls to Toronto’s civic hotline for a month last fall were about garbage, and Etobicoke residents were equally dissatisfied with their service as the rest of the city. In fact, 13 per cent of complaints for missed collection came from Etobicoke, which has 14 per cent of Toronto’s households.
Still, Mayor Rob Ford is going ahead with his election promise to contract out the service in Toronto. On Monday, he announced he has given a three-month notice to the Toronto Civic Employees Union, whose members currently collect curbside garbage, that he will recommend a competitive bid to city council.
[. . .]
Holyday said he hopes it’s only a matter of time before the whole city does away with what he describes as an “antiquated system.”
“We can do the whole city but the rate of attrition and the rate of finding amenable work for the employees that you have and the flexibility offered by the temporary people allows us to go at a certain rate,” he said.
“The union says that they would perhaps bid on this work. Well what’s going to in effect happen if half the city is contracted out and half the city is done by our own workers, we’re going to have a competition right then and there and see once and for all, head on head, who does the job the best.”
The head of the relevant Toronto union is hostile to the idea, saying that costs will increase. But then, even if people did believe the union--which they likely don't--memories of the summer 2009 garbage strike which saw garbage bags littering the parks selected as impromptu collection sites.
Mayor Ford got elected on the basis of populist outrage, particularly in the suburbs and on the newly-engaged immigrant sector but not only, against the perceived high-handedness of Mayor Miller's New Urbanist-themed government and powerful unions. People's memories of the garbage strike--and of Etobicoke's sparing of the stench--mean that, in all certainty, the partial privatization is going ahead.
Similarly, popular anger with the Toronto Transit Commission's workers, seen as hostile to commuters and--perhaps wrongly--completely unaccountable means that, during the upcoming contract negotiations, the city government is going to have a fair amount of popular support if/when it plays hardball. The union's offer to not strike during contract negotiations--part of an effort to avoid the TTC being declared an essential service, thus reducing the union's maneuvering ability--is recognizable as a desperate attempt to hold off the government. Not that it'll work, mind. The 2008 wildcat strike managed to anger everyone who depended on the TTC, one of my work managers--a calm, intellectual, well-spoken type--repeatedly calling the workers "fuckers" the morning after. With articles by populist journalists like Rosie DiManno (i.e. "TTC drivers kick courtesy to the curb") leading the cause, even if there are extra costs involved I think that an anti-union approach of Ford will do well. Who knows? He might even broaden his support.
