So there was this story on the cover of the Toronto Sun this morning. Personally I think the paper is a sensationalist piece of crap and normally isn’t worthy of anything more than a passing glance and a snicker, but this story caught my eye. It is about Candido Barreiro, a ticket collector who made $100,000 last year. Apparently he had to work over 1000 hours of overtime.
What I find so disturbing about this story is that it can only happen in a publicly run company. If the TTC was privately owned then there is no way any employer would have let him work that much OT. OT cost extra and considering the number of TTC employees is an unnecessary expense. This 100,000 also does not take into account his benefits and pension so really he made a lot more money than that.
I think part of the issue comes from TTC employees having such a strong union. The starting wage is $20.06 for operators plus Healthcare and Dental plans, Group Life Insurance and a Pension Plan. After 2.5 years the wage goes up to $26.58.
I can only imagine that the counter people make a similar wage. So that means the guy behing the counter is making $41,000 a year plus benefits. My first reaction is to scream that they get paid to much, but if you consider the cost of housing in this city then you can see where it is a fair wage. it is a tough pill to swallow though when the barrista working at Starbucks gets paid half of what they do and arguably has a harder job (more things on the menu and they actually make the drink)
I love Canada and Toronto, but the stupidest thing Toronto has is the TTC. I am ok with old trains (Tokyo’s subway system is very old but also very modernized), but TTC’s ticketing system is plain stupid. One fare to travel anywhere is also wrong – it leads to bankruptcy all the time. And TTC collectors sitting by the gate watching people drop their tickets and coins into the bin is also unbelievably outdated. Modernize it by installing electronic ticket vending machines and gates and be flexible with the ticket price by allowing people to pay more (or less) if you travel longer distance (or shorter distance) is the way to go.
At least it shows that with a bit of hard work you can earn good money