Toronto Garbage Strike

It's sort of frightening to think of how much we depend on regular garbage pickup (among other social services). Today is day 1 in Toronto's garbage strike and it probably couldn't have come at a worse time. It's going to be hot this week!

I know that regular garbage pickup is crucial to the health and welfare of citizens but it really isn't a job that requires a lot of training or credentials. The workers' salaries are fairly good and they have excellent benefits. You'd think they wouldn't consider striking but I guess we all want more, don't we.

I live alone, seldom cook, and don't produce a whole heck of a lot of garbage so it wouldn't affect me too severely if it happened in my city. But what about large families? Just what would we do with the refuse of our lives if it wasn't conveniently carted away every week? I passed a housing complex a few years ago and was disgusted to see huge piles of garbage, much torn apart by marauding animals, waiting in it's enclosure for garbage day. I thought then how unsanitary it is for garbage to pile up this way. Toronto is in for a stinky, messy time if their strike isn't ended quickly.

Toronto's day care centers are also closed because of the strike and I've wondered how parents are handling this nightmare. Some will have loving relatives ready to step in and take care of their babies but many will be in a panic, worried sick about who they can find to babysit. Some will give up their jobs and stay home rather than leave their children with strangers. Life is so difficult as it is without having this strike complicate things.

I don't blame the workers for striking. They have to take care of their own interests and have their labor earn as much as possible but they should be reasonable in their demands because they aren't skilled laborers. Toronto is a vacation spot for many people but few will want to wander garbage strewn streets. It will amount to less tourist dollars coming in to pay the garbage man's salary. What a wicked web of cause and effect.

Sooner or later the city will order the workers back to work because their job is a necessity of life for all citizens. In the meantime it might be a good idea to stay away from Toronto.