I live in Toronto and don't own a car. As such, the TTC is my transportation lifeline.

Monday's walkout was quite survivable, as my employers granted me a work-at-home day, cutting my total commuting time from about 2.5 hours to nothing.

While it ain't the same as being there, I got my job done.

However, literally hundreds of thousands of other people weren't so lucky. Hopefully none of them lost their gigs because they weren't able to show up for work.

What were the burning issues triggering this illegal wildcat strike? Well, for one, about 100 cleaners and track maintenance workers faced the spectre of permanent night shifts.

For starters, to shut down the entire system because 106 people might face night work is ridiculous.

Secondly, there are differences over job evaluations and health premiums (the union wants the city to pick up the cost of the Ontario health tax credit). Considering the transit union signed a contract with the city in April 2005, I can't see those as justifying a wildcat strike.

The third issue is driver safety. According to the Toronto Star, "a driver is assaulted once or twice a day, the worst being a shooting in October.* Most assaults are verbal, but many get physical and drivers are also spit on. Drivers don't want to have to wear seatbelts, some want enclosed barriers."

* The driver wasn't deliberately targeted. There was a dispute between two groups of youths. One group tried to cram onto the bus. A shot was fired from outside the vehicle and the poor driver was struck in the face.

The TTC plans to install cameras by fall. I suspect the evidence those cameras will collect is the same thing my eyes do: Some drivers have really lousy interpersonal skills and bring abuse on themselves by escalating minor confrontations into major ones.

I remember one time on the 501 (Queen St.) streetcar, circa 2001. A guy tried to get on, there was a dispute over the fare, and the driver completely bugged out. He started screaming at the guy, telling him: "I'm gonna phone the car behind me, and you won't get a ride on that one either! How do you like that?!?! Ha, ha!! Ha-ha-ha-ha!!"

This driver's eyes were literally bulging out of his head.

"Whoa, dude, time for some stress leave," was the thought running through my mind. In this particular incidence, the passenger wasn't even being a real knob.

I've seen lots of other cases where drivers were just nasty for no discernable reason.

For example, when I lived out in the Beaches (in southeast Toronto) in the fall of 2000, my back was giving me major trouble, and this affected my mobility. One Sunday morning, I was about 50 feet from the stop with a westbound Queen St. car approaching. Hobbling along, I waved at the guy, indicating could he please stop and wait. He sneered at me and accelerated.

In a nearby Starbucks was a guy with a TTC jacket on. Flush with outrage, I asked him why the driver would possibly behave like that. "I don't know. Maybe his wife is mad at him," was the terse reply in Irish-accented English. I asked how one could file a complaint. "Look it up in the Yellow Pages," was his advice.

Now, about 80 per cent of TTC operators are fine, and a small number of them are fantastic: Friendly, courteous, helpful and obviously keeping an eye out for the best interests of their passengers.

I suspect the number of operators being spat on and yelled at who come from that particular grouping are disproportionately low. OTOH, the number being abused who come from the misanthrope category are likely disproportionately high.

Even if the reasons don't justify a walkout, it shows the relations between Amalgamated Transit Union 113 and the city suck, as one labour relations prof (sort of) told the Star.

A bit of advice for the union: Adventures like this don't do anything to build public support and in fact do much to erode it.

If you want fewer members spat on, don't spit on the public when your dispute is with management.