By Staff
May 25, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Two of the unions the city works with held strike votes which gave their union leaders the go ahead to meet with the city and attempt to resolve the local issues.
Transit workers and the city’s outside workers have told their union leaders they are prepared to strike for a better deal.
The city Roads and Parks Maintenance union voted by 97% in favour of a strike last week and Burlington Transit Local 2723 voted in favour of strike action Sunday by 96%.
Getting a strike vote from the union membership does not mean there is going to be a strike – what it does mean is that the union negotiators have a mandate to begin negotiations.
The next step is for a conciliator to be brought in and determine if the issues can be settled.
Meeting with the conciliator can last half a day or many days.
At some point the Conciliator has to produce a report – at times the conciliator is unable to produce a report and the situation is in what is referred to as a “no board report”.
A union has to wait for a minimum of 30 days after a no board report is issued before they can call a strike.
It is a situation that does have to be watched’ 96 and 97 per cent mandates are not to be trifled with.
Burlington Transit’s union has been told they are not allowed to contact the media.
Burlington Transit employees make one of the lowest wages for Transit Operators in Ontario. Current hourly pay is $25 where as many agencies are now paying operators $27-$32/hour. It is important to remember should a strike occur that Burlington Transit Operators are forced to be customer service representatives (more so than other agencies), they put up with the angry passengers who are upset the city does not properly announce fare increases or schedule changes, they must deal with an aging fleet of buses that consistently break down and unrealistic schedule times. I take transit and rely on it but I would understand should they go on strike.
Editor’s note: The transit union management is proving quite difficult to reach – other than this comment we’ve seen nothing from the transit union – even less from city hall.
I hope when the city is negotiating with transit they take into consideration how a strike will impact many of our most vulnerable citizens. Many seniors and disabled rely on transit to get to doctors appointments, shopping or just to get out socially. To deprive them of this would create undue hardship. To be forced to rely on cabs is an unrealistic burden for many and there is only so much volunteer drivers can do. I will be watching as this battle unfolds to learn more about the issues. I am looking to the Gazette to elaborate. I did hear that Burlington Transit drivers make considerably less than drivers in neighbouring communities. I would like to see exact figures for comparison and clarification.