How much longer will that open sign be lit up ?
By Pepper Parr
July 6, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The telephones will jangle this morning – because there is a crunch coming on the transit union’s membership decision to turn down the city’s most recent offer.
Dean Manville, a CUPE negotiator brought in to oversee the talks with the city is trying to get the Ministry of Labour conciliator back into the city to take part in the next round of talks. Both the union and the city have said publicly that they want to continue negotiations.
The union has committed to giving the city 72 hours’ notice should they decide to with draw their services.
Here is where the rubber hits the road.
Mayor might have to call a Special meeting of Council during the summer if an agreement can’t be reached with the transit workers.
Council will meet this evening as a Standing Committee – and while the transit negotiations are not on the agenda there is nothing preventing anyone from asking to speak and nothing preventing the Mayor from speaking on the issue.
Whatever agreement is reached has to be ratified by Council. The offer that was put on the table was agreed upon by the city at a Special city council meeting June 30th – that offer was turned down so whatever the city decides to offer, if anything, will have to be ratified again.
The next city council meeting is July 15th – then they are off for the summer.
The tone from the union people the Gazette has talked to is not to let this situation simmer for the summer.
If the union tells the city they are withdrawing their services in 72 hours – expect the Mayor to call another Special meeting – we can see some vacation schedules being changed.
“Stay tuned”.
Background on where things stood earlier today:
So not striking yet?wish it was more clear on that lol . A strike would be bad for everyone that lives here and works here . Some of us depend on the bus service and like someone eles said the prices go up the service still has a lot of no go zones and still doesn’t run late enough for some people who travel from work after 12 am . I think some things still need to be worked out with routes and times . I really hope the workers get what they want or close enough to make them happy .
So transit drivers that we as taxpayers pay are threatening to walk off the job, and inside workers who we as taxpayers pay may choose to walk off the job to support them, and Council members that we as taxpayers pay might not be able to deal with this because they want the summer off, and teachers that we as taxpayers pay are enjoying their summer vacations before most likely walking off the job in September. How do we even begin to fix a public sector that is so broken? Our tax dollar waste is staggering!
The price goes up and the service level goes down. Bus routes cancelled, ie most go special routes cancelled. A lot of people have given up on Burlington transit and have taken to cars. There are a lot more buses heading into Hamilton than servicing the citizens of Burlington in Burlington. The Burlington Transit strike was not going to effect busses going into Hamilton. I think a hamster could figure out a better plan than what is working now. I know previous users of Burlington Transit that have been let down by constant change of the sytem that they have given up on the bus system completely.
I am not sure that this one can be blamed on the City team. I understood that the Union had accepted the offer and recommended it to the members. The members then voted it down. Seems like the team that is negotiating has lost the understanding/support of what it’s members want.
It’s very difficult to negotiate when the team across the table can’t make it work. They agree to terms, the City and Council spend time and effort debating and agreeing only to the have members vote it down.
Hopefully the next time the union will get it down.
I ride the Burlington Transit bus everyday, can’t believe The City of Burlington. They have problems and always will. I have decided to buy a car. Good Luck to everyone.
“The next city council meeting is June 15th – then they are off for the summer.”
Do you mean July 15? If you are going to print/publish something get the facts, do spell check.
Editor’s note – A spell check would not have caught that error. Thanks for bringing it to our attention – we had it right in the headline.