Words Fail

12:33 AM November 2, 2005 (Ottawa)
2:33 PM November 2, 2005 (Shimodate)

For the past few months I've put a lot of work into making sure my finances were in order. I've been paying off my student loans at more than twice the rate I did last year. I've been putting aside well over $200 a month by deliberately overpaying my taxes. I had a few possible goals in mind for the saved money.

- I could pay off one of my student loans entirely, which would have done a lot to help my credit rating.

- I could pay tuition and books for 2 semesters of College.

- I could buy a plane ticket and go teach overseas again.

I wasn't really sure which I would have chosen. Probably the second.

Today I found out that our local public transit union is going to vote to strike tomorrow. The union leaders have already advised the workers to reject the latest contract. So 72 hours after that vote we will no longer have a public transit system for an unknown period of time.

Why do I mention my money issues and the strike in the same entry? Because the strike is going to put me in a worse financial position than I've ever been in.

It will cost me about $80 per day to get to and from work without the bus system. Which I estimate means I'll be bringing home around $10 a day after taxes. I can't even pay rent with that.

So what am I going to have to do to ride it out? Borrow money? Quit the job I won't be able to afford to get to? Guess what the money I managed to save will be used for either way.

You can say that the strike might only last a week, but even 1 week like that would mean I couldn't make rent at the end of the month.

They are allowed to strike because legally they are not considered an Essential Service. Frankly I think that's ridiculous. Most of my friends and co-workers depend upon public transportation to get to work. When suddenly you're endangering the livelihoods of thousands of people who aren't even in a related field of work, then to my mind it's an Essential Service.

To OC Transpo: I do not support your strike, you are already overpaid. I do not have any sympathy whatsoever for your cause. It disgusts me that I will have to actually hope you win quickly for my own sake. In a few weeks when you do come out victorious don't expect an overly warm reception from the people you held hostage with your strike.