Towards agreement??

Canada Post workers have been without a reasonable settlement to their contract for over a year now. Last December their strategy was meant to make their point by disrupting the delivery of Christmas cards and parcels. But the trouble was, that ploy didn't work. 

It caused plenty of inconvenience to people outside of Canada who wanted to send gifts and greetings to friends here, but Canadians mostly took to using alternate delivery services, like UPS or Purolator. Besides, it gave us a good excuse to quit or at least cut back on the number of cards we sent. 

Finally, it's beginning to look like some sort of arrangement, satisfactory to both sides of the bargaining table, might be in the works. It all sounds pretty tentative, but I like to think that both sides are reaching out, seeking a meaningful and lasting resolution--sort of like the way the flag in front of our local post office seems to be reaching to grab hold of the little tree out front. 

Now, if only some kind of agreement could be reached that would see the end of the terrible war in Ukraine. And not a list of demands assembled by the Russians, a plan that would see Ukrainians worse than before Russia invaded there, nearly four years ago. 

Reaching for an agreement, I'm hoping, one that will mean a lasting peace. 

In praise of transit

Yesterday was one of those when I needed to go into Vancouver, a trip that's become more of a task over the years. Traffic has increased, it feels like ten-fold. The only bright spot has been improvements to our transit system.

But over the last few weeks, transit has felt threatened, as the unionized workers weren't able to negotiate a new contract that met everyone's needs. At first, the drivers stopped wearing their uniforms -- letting the public know that things weren't as they should be.

Their actions escalated with interruptions to SeaBus service, making travel from Vancouver to the North Shore very challenging.

The double-decker bus above, despite its 'not in service' sign was merely the driver taking a break, and wasn't a Vancouver bus at all, but one in Victoria. The moustache was their way of promoting men's health for Movember. The day I was over there, the driver who picked us up at the ferry told us all to just get on board. He wasn't taking any money that afternoon, a sign of solidarity with the Coast Mountain workers on this side of the water.

But tensions over here kept rising, with a complete shutdown of service scheduled for the 27th, 28th and 29th.

Fortunately for all of us who rely on public transit, a last-minute settlement came about, granting an almost-audible public sigh of relief.

Yesterday, while I was waiting to get on my bus, I saw a Coast Mountain driver waiting as well. I approached him and said thank you -- I suspect on behalf of many other riders that day. Surprisingly, he then thanked me. He explained himself by telling me that it was the support from the public that had made all the difference, and had enabled a quick settlement. Unlike the long strike in 2001 (123 days), this time social media had raised such an outcry, management pretty well had to pay attention.

Riding home on my standing-room only bus, I tried to calculate just how many cars were not being used because we passengers were using public transit. I'm still working on the numbers, but I know we represented a lot of cars not taking up space on the road. As for transit, I'm just grateful we have such an extensive and reliable system. Zoom, zoom, goes the bus, and sez I: hurrah!