Metro Transit strike begins
Posted Feb 1, 2012 05:08:30 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Metro Transit workers postponed their planned strike in what was literally a final-hour move.
A labour dispute that has been building for months has resulted in job action, shutting down transit service for the Halifax Regional Municipality. Hope for a deal peeked through hours before workers were to walk off the job, but the optimism was short-lived.
Contract talks that resumed the afternoon before the strike deadline fell apart early Wednesday evening, with the union walking away from the bargaining room and its president saying the strike would happen unless something changed.
“I want to apologize to the citizens, but it looks like we’re headed for a transit strike for midnight tonight,” said Ken Wilson, president of the local Amalgamated Transit Union. “My phone is on. I will be available if the employer has a change of heart and if we can get something worked out by midnight, I’ll come back to the table. But right now I’m on my way back with my team to the union hall to get prepared for a transit strike tonight at midnight.”
Wilson responded to an earlier appearance on The Rick Howe show by Mayor Peter Kelly, who said the city’s offer would cost an extra $600,000, while the union’s wage demand would cost an extra $10-million. Wilson says the real issue that’s keeping the parties apart is rostering, a scheduling system.
“The mayor actually has no idea what he’s talking about, and that’s crystal clear,” said Wilson. “This council and this mayor never use buses and they have no idea what the public and drivers go through.”
Earlier in the day, the union said progressive negotiations could delay job action indefinitely.
“I can’t see our team just walking out in bad faith when the negotiations are moving forward,” said ATU local VP Shane O’Leary. “If negotiations are moving forward, in my opinion, my personal opinion, is the buses would be running tomorrow. If they’re not working, then there’s no reason to stay.”
Metro Transit workers are poised to put buses in park and pound the pavement as of 12:01 Thursday morning, unless a new contract deal is brokered today.
Talks between the city and the Amalgamated Transit Union broke down Tuesday morning after each side presented a final contract offer.
One of the main sticking points for the union is rostering. Transit workers currently choose their shifts and routes by seniority and the city wants to implement changes which would be closer to best practice standards used in other markets.
Wilson said making that concession would negatively affect his members’ quality of life.
“It’s what they do every day, the routes they drive, the times they get off and the days off they have,” said Wilson. “This employer has always said it is the employer of choice because you can work around your family life. Now the employer wants to take away one of the only good things that we have.”
The union is also asking for three per cent wage increases, each year, over three years. The deal would cost the city about $10 million.
The city is offering a two-year contract with wage increases of 0.5 and 3.5 respectively, valued at $1.8 million.
“In offering the rostering objectives that we have it gives us an opportunity to offer them top wage-rates in Canada,” said Metro Transit director Eddie Robar.
A transit strike would affect a daily ridership of 96,000 people.
