Members of the union representing striking Halifax transit workers have voted 88 percent to accept a contract offer from the city.
Halifax council will meet tonight at 6pm to vote on the same contract. That meeting is in closed session, but an announcement will be made immediately after. I’ll live-blog the meeting on Twitter (twitter.com/Tim_Bousquet) and report results here.
Should council accept the contract, mechanics will likely start work tomorrow, with the expectation that full service will resume Friday, although exact details won’t be known until tomorrow.
This article appears in Mar 8-14, 2012.
This is both disgusting and offensive to taxpayers and transit users.
A cumulative 17% raise over 5 years is unheard of in the present environment, either in the public or private sectors. This is a ridiculous agreement and cannot possibly be good for taxpayers.
Council should stand up for the taxpayers for once and take a stand by rejecting this outrageous proposal. Give notice that Transit will be broken up, routes put up for bid, equipment and facilities sold off, and jobs terminated. We need a fresh start that is free of the greedy and unmanageable ATU.
Obviously your listening skills need some attention. It is not 17% over 5 years. It is a 4000 pay out which is not pensionable, is not an increase in yearly salary is taxable and is therefore not included in the increase. The 2% is for the 2,3,4,and 5 th years of contract so it is 8 % over the next four years not 2011 to 2012. And maybe if there wasnltso much crap to be put up with maybe we wouldnt be paid so much. And you go ahead and open a transit company spend 70 + million on buses, another 75 million on transit garages and then quickly try to find drivers willing to put up with what we do for 24,00 an hour,Oh but you could apply for a job but dont plan on making 24 an hour that will now take you 4 years to get to that level with the new phasing in plan. Be lots of turn over in the future given that I bet 18.00 an hour to work nights, every holiday, every weekend, But you dont want that great job do you??
guggy – you don’t work nights.
People in hotels and in healthcare and police work nights, as in 7pm to 7am or 11pm to 7 am. You work evenings. Big difference. $18 an hour plus overtime plus the benefits for a job for life with no worry about layoff or the business closing down is good coin for a job with a low skill level.
Gimme a break guggy. I worked 4 years front line mental health doing suicide and crisis intervention for about $15 an hour through most of it. That’s something to “put up with” on a daily basis. I still have friends who are in the mental health profession doing overnights in group homes, regularly getting scheduled into 40hr split shifts for $20/hr or less. That’s something to “put up with”. Bus drivers don’t have to put up with much compared to a lot of jobs. You’re in the service industry, of course you have to deal with people. You probably won’t have to “put up with what (you) do” quite so often if you didn’t have the type of attitude you seem to.
you folks need to get jobs with the HRM being of such opinions, Gardeners make 20.85 an hour. To pull weeds and plant flowers so rather than begrudge decent wages to middle class who pay for the social services out there, feel free to see if you qualify for a job picking weeds and make more.
If your not happy with your job,does not mean you should knock the Transit Driver’s,they have been recruiting for years,all you have to do is apply,and hope you do well in the testing.
I would bet also Mr. O’Neill,that the ones with health issues you claim to have dealt lwith,were in a hosiptol,group home or wherever,and good for you,we need more people helping these people,I know,I have also been involved in Crisis situations.I know the Driver’s out there on any given day,come in contact with people,with Mental issues,carring guns etc.. never knowing what someone with ill thoughts might do. I may not agree or even like all,but good for them for standing up for themselves,maybe the ones who complain the most should take note.
One has to remember that ATU is not JUST drivers, there is also Mechanics, Ferry Workers and other occupations as well like Hostlers (who are the ones that clean, service and organize the buses for the next day of operations). Those in the maintenance department work on 24/7 scheduals, with the night and back shift running from 7:00pm – 3:00am and 11:30pm – 7:30am. There is more to the ATU than just drivers, and I think people are forgetting that.
Bo Gus lives on planet I DON”T HAVE A CLUE….
Well I stood on the line. Watched people in cars drive by. They honked their horns; they waved salutes of all types! They brought coffee and doughnuts. The public’s interaction with the strikers depended on the words they were fed by the media that particular day! In the blogs and comments, there was concern and scorn. There was intelligent argument and there was stupidity, but mostly there was uninformed opinion. A contract negotiation was hijacked by social media and the public forum used to manipulate opinion and hamper speedy negotiation. If your buses were off the road for longer than you wanted. It was your words, anger and negativity in response to carefully crafted release of information, taken out of context by council. The residents of HRM were used and manipulated by Butts and council. The strike could have ended over a month ago. Remember that…The public shot their collective mouth off and approx. 39 staff in the PR dept. at city hall made full use of it…Beware what you ask for. You just got it…. and you don’t know the full impacts of the contract forced onto the drivers of your city. But hey there are lots of jobs opportunities. Go drive a bus route for six months… oops can’t do that now. Not able to take the same route anymore… So much for your regular drivers guys….. Route knowledge, unable to gain that information now folks…not able to make your connections, no regular driver who knows you anymore….Are you getting the picture now folks…enjoy the service. Council and Metro Transit have a new philosophy when it comes to service…and nobody has talked about that!!!!
@saxoness
“I can hire one-half of the working class to kill the other half.” Jay Gould
Both the Transit Union and the general public were manipulated during this entire debacle. While the union workers were out of work and faced finincial struggles, the general public too were deprived of a service which many rely on for important things in their daily lives (such as work, medical appointments, ect;). The fact that both these groups (who are both taxpayers and of the working class) suffered during this strike and fought with one another whilst those in power remained relatively unaffected is the great tragedy.
Don’t bear a grudge against the general public, they are victims just like you. If we’re ever going to see a change in this city, the people have to band together to show those currently in power that such behavior from our elected officials will not be tolerated again.
Don’t misunderstand my sympathies kitchensink. Your comment “Don’t bear a grudge against the general public, they are victims just like you. If we’re ever going to see a change in this city, the people have to band together to show those currently in power that such behavior from our elected officials will not be tolerated again.” Unfortunately the behavior from our elected officials was tolerated. The general public who actually ride the buses everyday were fooled by rhetoric regarding tax savings and overtime costs (yet to be proven).The drivers will now be rotated through bus routes frequently. The reality being that a driver may only drive a route once a week, for a couple of months, and never see that particular bus route again for another 5 years or more, given the potential scheduling permutations. No kitchensink. I don’t bear a grudge against the general public. I am actually deeply saddened that the quality of bus service provided to HRM will not be the same. As drivers will not longer to be able to take care of the needs of regular passengers with tight connections, the last bus waiting for a regular passenger, waking your guy at the back of the bus when you reach his stop, ( he always falls asleep after his hard day!). Get the picture! This will be because the driver will not be familiar with the route or the passengers who take that particular bus. The service element was just taken out of the equation. For the passenger who rides the buses. This was a bad deal. Do you notice that nobody has mentioned that aspect to the public? But hey HRM and Metro transit seem to be all about the money and to hell with good service, with drivers who know their routes (road safety) throughout the year’s changing weather conditions, and know the passengers who ride a particular route, taking note of their routines and needs. We lost more than we realize today.
I was talking to a Driver today,who I know quite well,and is Happy to be going back to work,He told me he would/and allways did let women,elderley,children,or anyone who may have a problem when he pulled back onto the road to sit.He also greeted them,and wished them a nice day when exiting the bus.I was told also,he used to speed to try to get back on track,so passengers would be able to make a connection,after seeing all the comments that people have made/uneducated/dumb/fat,etc…and hearing they will call in if 5 minutes late,he said they can go for it,because he will not lose his Licence for Metro Transit/Public or anyone,he does not set the Damm Times,Metro Transit does,some routes no matter what you do,the time they give you to make it from A-B are ridiculous.(Mr. Robar is/was the one to have made the schedule) ,,,I was told as for the Driver not being nice,well,well well,some/not all,will not say hello,they point to a transfer,instead of asking for one,they use a transfer that has expired,or donot put enough money in,and the Driver is suppose to WHAT,get a punch in the mouth for $2.25,for a system Metro Transit has that is outdated,not a chance,its a system that is broken,and needs fixing,but when they donot,,and he says they donot want/ask for imput.no wonder the City is losing money,when they will not listen to the front line workers.
Just passing this along,,from one Pissed off Driver who just wanted to work.