So the Ontario protests are over and the Ambassador Bridge is back open. I’m not sure what was accomplished, aside from causing a great deal of hardship to people who didn’t deserve it.
I’m a trucker. In short, my job is to move cargo. It isn’t to sit around burning fuel and annoying people. It certainly isn’t to keep other truckers from doing their jobs.
It’s not a job for everyone. Working conditions can be hard and the general public treats us like a nuisance. But that comes with the territory. I understand that the vaccine requirements for crossing the American/Canadian border are an issue, but those have been in place for over a year now. They’re not new, and plenty of other jobs have similar mandates.
If it’s such an existential crisis right now, maybe the aggrieved parties could contact their legislators or consider funding targeted lawsuits. These protests aren’t going to change policy.
What’s more, they’re obnoxious. If I had to do the Detroit/Windsor run right now (and it *does* stink), I’d be livid at having to sit for hours on a bridge that’s already known for aggravating gridlock. If I lived or worked there and had to deal with this, I’d be peeved. It would be one thing to block the entrance to city hall to protest something, but these people were blocking everything.
While I’m sure the truckers doing this are getting all sorts of confirmation bias from a few supporters, they’re making far more people unhappy. That costs goodwill, and a loss of goodwill translates to a loss in bargaining power.