No appetite for making transit essential
Posted Mar 15, 2012 07:32:32 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The city could prevent further transit strikes by having the province declare the buses and ferries an essential service – but it doesn’t look like that’s about to happen.
Regional councillors offered only a lukewarm response to the question, a day after signing the deal that ended the six-week long strike by Metro Transit workers.
Coun. Darren Fisher says it just wouldn’t work, because transit service doesn’t cover the whole municipality.
“It’s not HRM-wide, it’s provided in a portion of HRM,” he pointed out. “So it’s hard to say that what’s essential here in the urban core is somehow not as important in the urban areas.”
Coun. Gloria McCluskey says those residents who use, or rely on transit, might feel differently.
“I think it’s a good time to think about it,” she sad. “I think the majority of residents who suffered through those weeks would think that. But I don’t know that the government has any desire to do that.”
Among other councillors, there was some appetite for declaring certain parts of the service essential, such as the Access-A-Bus.
“In my own personal opinion, I think that has real validity in terms of fairness to those who cannot move around as others do,” said Mayor Peter Kelly.
Coun. David Hendsbee agreed, but said the ferry service should also be protected from labour disruptions.
“I think the ferry service is essential to maintaining that connectivity across the harbour,” he said.
The last time Metro Transit workers were on strike was in 1998.
