Cyclists not above law
Re: Idle cops riding cyclists, Jan. 6
The author believed that he should not have been ticketed for failing to stop at a stop sign while riding his bike because he chose an “environmentally responsible mode of transportation.”
Why is it that so many cyclists believe that they can disregard the rules of the road simply because they are “green?”
This holier-than-thou attitude is ridiculous. Riding a bicycle does not put you above the law. I do not see a problem with police enforcing the laws of the road around the campus. While walking down St. George once I saw a cyclist ride straight through a red light, plowing through a stream of pedestrians who were crossing on the green.
I would hardly say the cops were being idle, merely doing their job.
Marialisa Laurella
State of the union
Re: Majority rules, Jan. 12
I would like to congratulate the Varsity on its coverage of the ongoing unionization of University sessional instructors. Labour issues like this one too often go unreported on campus.
I do, however, have one concern about the article. Naomi Fance reported that 56 per cent of sessional employees are in favour of unionization, a number that would give CUPE 3902 a comparatively weak mandate to bargain for these employees. There are many vagaries to the process of unionization, and 56 per cent merely represents the proportion of “yes” votes so far, counted out of the total number cast. Nearly a third of the ballots cast remain uncounted, in legislative limbo.
Of the ballots counted, just over 82 per cent of sessional instructors voted in favour of unionization with CUPE 3902. Eighty-two per cent represents an overwhelming mandate to bargain for a group of employees who are clearly dissatisfied with how the University’s Faculty Association has “represented” their interests in the past.
Kit Dobson
Chief Steward, CUPE 3902
