We didn't notice it at first because there were cleaning works going on in the garage downstairs (right under our window on a Saturday morning!), but the streetcars were not running.
It turned out that the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) went on strike last night, Saturday 12am. A bit of background here: The union has been in a legal strike position since April 1 but had promised 48 hours' notice of a service withdrawal. Last Monday, the TTC were supposed to go on strike but a last minute deal was reached between the union and the provincial government, and services ran as normal on Monday. Therefore, this was a rather dramatic surprise. There was no advance notice; the talks broke down around 10pm last night when the last vote was cast and the only warning was a public service announcement at 11:30pm before the strike started at midnight. Commuters were literally left high and dry, as normal services usually ran till 2am. News of the strike were all over the local newspapers, of course.
We were not too affected as we don't usually take public transport. We thought it'd be quiet because of the lack of clanking and rattling, but the very noisy cleaning works downstairs continued for the better part of the day.
To be frank, we were a little excited and bemused because strikes don't happen in Singapore. A lot of things don't happen in Singapore -- natural disasters, seasons, strikes -- so one tends to build up an overly high expectation. The actual event is generally a lot less dramatic. Of course the fact that we were not affected helps keeps this experience exciting and not irritating. Will a deal be reached by Monday morning? Do we want to see the strike extended into next week? To be really, really honest?
*sniggers*
Well, tongue-in-cheek of course. There are a lot of people badly affected by the strike and those are the people who can least afford it.
Nothing like a little bit of drama to go with your morning news.
It turned out that the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) went on strike last night, Saturday 12am. A bit of background here: The union has been in a legal strike position since April 1 but had promised 48 hours' notice of a service withdrawal. Last Monday, the TTC were supposed to go on strike but a last minute deal was reached between the union and the provincial government, and services ran as normal on Monday. Therefore, this was a rather dramatic surprise. There was no advance notice; the talks broke down around 10pm last night when the last vote was cast and the only warning was a public service announcement at 11:30pm before the strike started at midnight. Commuters were literally left high and dry, as normal services usually ran till 2am. News of the strike were all over the local newspapers, of course.
We were not too affected as we don't usually take public transport. We thought it'd be quiet because of the lack of clanking and rattling, but the very noisy cleaning works downstairs continued for the better part of the day.
To be frank, we were a little excited and bemused because strikes don't happen in Singapore. A lot of things don't happen in Singapore -- natural disasters, seasons, strikes -- so one tends to build up an overly high expectation. The actual event is generally a lot less dramatic. Of course the fact that we were not affected helps keeps this experience exciting and not irritating. Will a deal be reached by Monday morning? Do we want to see the strike extended into next week? To be really, really honest?
*sniggers*
Well, tongue-in-cheek of course. There are a lot of people badly affected by the strike and those are the people who can least afford it.
Nothing like a little bit of drama to go with your morning news.
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