It’s frustrating that for the duration of the transit strike, now in its 24th day, we—the public—are left hearing competing versions of the scheduling and overtime issues that are at the heart of conflict, but haven’t been provided with much information beyond talking points.
Fortunately, yesterday a bus driver gave me the actual scheduling documents used to assign shifts, called the “run cut,” and the proposed documents that the city wants to use. I don’t know why neither the city nor the union made these documents public before, but now people can look at the documents and form their own conclusions.
In the interest of getting as much information in the hands of readers as possible, yesterday I scanned in the dozens of pages and uploaded them to our website. But be forewarned: these are very large PDF files, and will take a while to download. I suggest opening them in another tab, and reading further as they download to your computer. (And please forgive the low quality of these scans– it’s the weekend and The Coast’s tech people are out of the office; I’ll try to improve them tomorrow.)
There are two documents. The first is a list of the existing bus driver shifts, as of November 2011, found
here (PDF, 120 MB). The second is an example of the proposed “roster” of shifts the city is putting forward, as presented to drivers, and is here (PDF, 88 MB).
How to read the run cut
First, let’s understand how to read the list of driver runs, which is called the “run cut.” Here are the column headings and what each designation means:
Duty is simply a number for that particular schedule piece. Runs that begin with a 1 are weekday routes, runs that start with a 6 are Saturday routes, runs that start with a 7 are Sunday and holiday routes and the runs that start with 8 are last year’s New Year’s Eve buses, which fell on a Saturday.
Type– “sa” means a straight eight-hour shift—that is, the driver drives for eight hours straight, no break. “sb” is a split eight-hour shift, meaning the driver will work for about four hours, take a break for several hours, then come back and work for four more hours. “la” is a straight 10-hour shift, and “lb” is a split 10-hour shift. (Drivers have the option of working five eight-hour days or four 10-hour days.)
Pce is the break down of that shift into its components.
EvtSta is a designation for differences in routes when school is in session or not; “Son” means school is in session and “Soff” means school is not in session.
Duty routes are the route numbers, which are self-explanatory. “ecs” is the “employees coach,” which will take drivers from the garage to one of the terminals, typically Mumford.
Block is just a scheduling designation, and not important here.
Report means the time the driver has to check in. He or she actually has to be in the garage a bit before this, to begin the checklist on the bus, but the “report” time is the official acknowledgement that he or she is present for work for the day. If drivers miss the report time, even by a minute, they lose the shift and can’t work.
Start is the time the bus starts rolling.
From is where the route begins. The designations are “gar” for the Burnside garage, “gar3” is the Ragged Lake garage, “bdnb” is Barrington/Duke (i.e., Scotia Square) northbound, “bdsb” is Scotia Square southbound, “mumf” is Mumford Terminal and “dsc” is Dartmouth Shopping Centre, which is where the Bridge Terminal used to be.
End is the time the driving ends.
To is the location the route ends.
Clear is the time the shift officially ends. Sometimes this corresponds with the end of the driving, sometimes not. The assumption is that the driver gets 10 minutes both before and after driving to go through the checklist, adjust mirrors and seats, etc.
PceDur is the length of time on the road for each leg of the shift.
Sprd is the length of the time from beginning driving to end of driving. For a straight eight-hour shift this will be eight hours, but for split shifts, the driving might be eight hours, but the spread 11 or 12 hours.
PlatDur is the total length of time the driver has been driving that day—that is, all the PceDurs added together.
DtyWrk is the amount of time the driver is getting paid for. I’ll have more to say about this immediately below.
The rest of the cut run details what type of bus the driver is using, which garage it is assigned to and, in the last column, any travel time that might be paid—few runs have travel time; those that do are typically 15 minutes, when a driver has one leg of the run end at one terminal and the next leg begin at another.
Overtime built into the system
Notice that some PlatDurs are under eight hours, but the driver gets paid for a DtyWrk of eight hours. Other PlatDurs, plus the 10 minutes before and after driving, result in a DtyWrk that is considerably more than eight hours—this is overtime built into the system, by the way management schedules the routes.
For example, the very first run, #1001, is scheduled as an 8:45 day, five days a week; that’s 45 minutes overtime a day, or 3 hours and 45 minutes overtime a week, every week school is in session, just for that one route. The drivers or their union are not responsible for that—the scheduling is entirely the creation of management.
All told, for the November 2011 run cut, there were more than 41 hours of overtime scheduled per weekday, for 310 runs—on average, just over eight minutes per driver. But that’s eight minutes each and every day through the week, so it adds up. And some of the runs are well over an hour of overtime per day, as scheduled; drivers on those runs could rack up more than 250 hours of overtime a year, through a system completely designed by managers.
For Saturdays, the run cut listed more than 74 hours of overtime scheduled for 158 runs—that is, almost 29 minutes per driver.
For Sundays, the run cut listed more than 54 hours of scheduled overtime for just 109 runs—that is, more than 30 minutes of overtime per driver.
The run cut is changed every three months, and there is additional scheduled routing overtime for one-offs like New Year’s Eve and the Canada Games buses, but if we are to extrapolate out the November 2011 numbers for an entire year, we arrive at about 17,500 hours of overtime—meaning extra pay for drivers of $630,000, with even more costs for Metro Transit for taxes and the like.
Let’s call it three-quarters of a million dollars of overtime costs, structured right into the bus route scheduling, just for the regular day-in, day-out normal running of buses. That includes no vacations, no sick days, no snowstorms, no extra buses for special events. Not a penny of that overtime cost can be blamed on drivers in any way—it is entirely due to management’s scheduling of buses.
But vacations, sick days, snowstorms and special events are parts of the real world, and have to be scheduled for as well, so overtime related to those real world occurrences also have to be scheduled for.
That not to say that Metro Transit’s scheduling is necessarily lacking. Bus scheduling is something of a science, and a complicated one at that; maybe Metro Transit’s bus scheduling is the very best, the pinnacle of efficient use of labour and bus use. But is it? I’ll return to that question in a moment. But first, let’s look at how the run cut plays out for drivers.
A bus driver’s day
The “report” time on the run cut is the very first consideration for a driver—it’s an absolute deadline; miss it and you miss your shift, and therefore your pay for the day. If the run starts at one of the transit garages, this isn’t any more of a problem than it is for everyone else who has to be at their job at a set time.
But if the run starts somewhere besides the transit garage, but ends at the garage, the driver has to figure out how to arrange transportation to and from work. This problem is typical for runs that start after the morning rush hour is complete, when a new driver takes over a bus from the early morning driver.
For instance, the driver for run 1205 has to report at Scotia Square at 7:58am, in order to take over the bus driving the #56 route at 8:05am. She drives that route until 12:37pm, when she hands the bus off to another driver at Scotia Square. She then gets a couple hours of break, but has to start work again at 2:32pm at the Mumford Terminal in order to take over the bus on the #41 route. She drives that bus until 7:04pm, and ends up at the Burnside garage.
At first appearance, the 1205 run driver doesn’t have it so bad. Through the course of the day she is only actually driving the bus for seven hours and four minutes, but gets paid for eight hours.
A deeper look, however, shows a different picture. To begin, her work day is spread over 11 hours and 14 minutes. Then there’s the consideration of how to get around. There are any number of approaches to this, but typically drivers will drive their cars to the ending point, so that when the work day is over they can go home without adding still more trouble to their day. In the case of the 1205 driver, she’ll drive in the morning to Burnside, then catch one of the buses departing from the garage to Scotia Square, to start her day. At the end of the day, she’ll end up back at Burnside, where her car is.
But recall that if drivers miss their “report” time, even by a minute, they lose their shift. The big concern for the 1205 driver is that the bus she catches to Scotia Square can’t be late. All of us who commute by bus know this fear—late buses can destroy our day. If our entire day’s pay depends on the unreliable bus scheduling, we do what we have to do; we take an earlier bus.
The driver who gave me the run cut explained it to me this way: “If I have to go from Burnside to the Bridge Terminal, I start out an hour early. If I have to go downtown [to Scotia Square], it’s an hour and a half. And if I have to be at Mumford, I leave two hours early.”
For the 1205 driver, a second travel issue arrives during her break: she has to figure out how to get from Scotia Square to Mumford in time to start the second leg of her shift, eating away perhaps another hour in order to be certain she meets her report time.
Why aren’t the buses on schedule?
That the bus drivers themselves face the same bus scheduling frustrations as every other commuter raises the question: Why aren’t the buses on schedule?
There are three issues here. The first is the variables of weather and traffic. The runs all have specific start and end times, with time certains throughout—all the times listed on each route schedule, at major intersections—but if there’s a sudden snowstorm, or a massive accident on the route, time will be thrown off. There’s really nothing the driver can do about this.
Franky, I don’t understand how anyone could blame a driver for the bus being held up in traffic. The driver is as frustrated as everyone else; “you think we like getting yelled at by customers?” asked a driver rhetorically.
Drivers say some routes are particularly problematic because they have lots of potential choke points—the #52 being an extreme example, as it has to deal with traffic in Burnside, on the bridge, North Street and then again out in Bayers Lake.
The geography of our narrow streets amplifies traffic or weather problems, say drivers, and our icy winters present another set of issues.
The schedules could be stretched out, with longer waiting times at the time certain points, but that would slow everyone’s commute, even when there’s nothing out of the ordinary. I don’t think that’s much of a solution. It seems to me the best fix to these problems is simply more buses, running more frequently.
The second problem leading to troubled scheduling can to some degree be laid on the drivers: they’re human, and so require washroom breaks.
The run cut illustrates the issue clearly. As an example, let’s look at a bus I deal with on a regular basis, the #10, which runs between Dalhousie and the Caledonia area in Dartmouth. On Saturdays, there’s a driver assigned to run 6138; the driver starts work at 2:23pm, then drives straight through, for 10 hours, to 12:36pm. The driver gets no scheduled breaks, no meal break, no washroom break.
For the 6138 driver, there are lots of time certains built into the schedule: at Dalhousie, SMU, Spring Garden/Park, Scotia Square, Bridge Terminal, MicMac Mall, Tacoma Centre, Woodlawn/Main and then at the end of the route at Inverary/Strath. At the Dartmouth terminus of the route, the driver has exactly one minute before starting off again, in reverse order, through all the time certains, back to Dalhousie.
If there are no traffic problems or other delays, the route from Dalhousie to the Dartmouth suburbs and back again takes one hour and 50 minutes. At Dalhousie, the bus sits at the corner of South and LeMarchant Streets for 10 minutes. Maybe, just maybe, that’s enough time to dart over to the Dal Student Union for a quick pee, but here’s hoping there are no greater needs.
In reality, in such situations, the driver has to dart out for a washroom break somewhere along the route, and either has to try to get ahead of schedule, so the schedule corresponds with the time certains after, or get delayed and drive like hell to catch up with the schedule, or both. Throw in any other delay, and the problem with washroom breaks get magnified.
The Saturday #10 is hardly unique—nearly every run has very limited, if any, opportunity for driver washroom breaks. You could hear the distress in drivers’ voices, when they urged city council to build the new Bridge Terminal sooner, rather than later. The Sportsplex, right across the parking lot from the existing Bridge Terminal, is not close enough for driver to dart to the washroom for the four minutes or so they’re waiting at the terminal, but a washroom at the new terminal will provide that opportunity.
The third reason for schedule disruptions is a sort of catchall related to passengers and equipment. If the #10 has to pick up 50 Christmas shoppers at MicMac Mall, which happens, there’s going to be a delay getting them all in the bus. The #10 is not a wheelchair accessible bus, but for those routes that are, that presents another delay.
The new buses are also causing delays, says one driver. The “wave your hand to open the door” thing can be quite slow compared to traditional “push the bar” doors, and when there are hundreds of stops over the course of a route, that adds considerable time.
The same driver tells me that the interior lights on the new buses are too bright, and cause safety issues. The lights are so bright that they reflect off the loading door, and the driver can’t see out into the darkness. “Every time I’m driving down Lacewood, I pray there isn’t anyone in the bike lane, because I can’t see them if there is,” he says. This driver says that it took management more than six months to respond to this problem before a front interior light near the driver’s seat was removed on all the new buses; the situation has improved but has not gone away, he says. Those concerns slow him down, especially at night.
Whatever reasons might be behind busted schedules, besides leading to frustration for drivers and riders, they also lead to increased overtime costs.
Safety concerns
When I look at the run cut, the thing that jumps out at me is the long hours. There are some extreme examples: on New Year’s Eve, the driver of the #22 is working a straight shift, with no breaks, for 11 hours and 33 minutes; the driver of the #10 is working 11 hours and 54 minutes straight through, as is the driver of the #6. These drivers are working into their 11th and 12th hours, dealing with drunken passengers and city streets full of post-New Year’s celebration drivers. This can’t possibly be safe.
The New Year’s Eve examples are extreme, but daily shifts of nine and 10 hours or more are a regular, normal feature of the run cut. I worry that this translates into drivers who are over-stressed and tired.
Tradeoffs
Look, we all have challenges and difficulties with our jobs; that’s why they call it “work.” I’m not trying to glamourize bus drivers into some exalted class, but that said, bus drivers’ work conditions are indeed difficult: They have eight-hour paid shifts being stretched over 11 or 12 hours, the stress related to finding transportation between multiple workplaces, and they need to maintain an attentiveness that most workers don’t have to worry about (if I nod off at my desk or get distracted by a quick game of Angry Birds, dozens of people’s lives aren’t at stake).
It’s perfectly understandable that driver divorce rates are through the roof; the kind of hours they have to commit to their jobs, paid or not, and the weird scheduling related to it, will test any relationship.
Up til now, the tradeoff has been in exchange for those long hours, drivers have gotten decent (not great) pay, and some flexibility with scheduling, the so-called “cafeteria style” pick.
The cafeteria style pick has been misrepresented in some circles. It does not mean that “drivers get to decide when they work,” as someone told me this morning; drivers have to work five eight-hour shifts or four 10-hour shifts a week, and they can’t just decide willy nilly when they want to come in and leave—they have to choose from shifts prescribed by management.
As it is now, based on seniority, drivers get to pick from the run cut every three months—that is, for a three-month period, they choose a week-long schedule, from among the offerings determined by management. Their weekly schedule will remain the same, every week for three months, until management comes up with a new run cut in order to meet changing schedules.
So, a long-time driver might decide to work a straight eight-hour shift, Monday through Friday, and be done with it. As drivers work through the list of offerings, the choice straight-eight shifts will disappear for drivers with less seniority, but there are other possibilities. Maybe a driver gets visitation with his kid on Wednesday nights, so he’s able to choose that night off and work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Maybe another driver has a spouse who has Mondays and Tuesdays off, so she picks a schedule that provides that opportunity. The picks aren’t unlimited—there has to an open run as listed on the run cut—but as the driver builds a bit of seniority, the opportunity to have something of a family life remains.
I can tell you, I’ve heard from many, many drivers that taking that opportunity away is simply a deal-breaker. The limited flexibility in what is otherwise a schedule that makes high demands on their time is what keeps them sane, and keeps them connected with their families.
The city says collecting the drivers’ various wishes, in order of seniority, is a paperwork nightmare. Mayor Peter Kelly repeated this at a recent press scrum, when he talked of managers having to chase down drivers with paper and pencil over weeks at a time.
Drivers don’t dispute this. In fact, in the second decade of the 21st century, Metro Transit management is still putting together driver schedules with paper and pencil. One driver tells me that a roving manager finds him while he’s driving on route. The manager’s SUV will pull up behind the bus, and a second driver will jump out to take over the route for 20 minutes or whatever, while the manager and the first driver go over the existing options, and the driver makes his pick; he’s then driven back to his bus. Similarly, each and every one of the 500 or so drivers is tracked down, one after another based on seniority, and a manager writes down the driver’s pick.
This is, in a word, insane. We are a computerized society, and computer programs for cafeteria-style scheduling picks have existed for decades for, for example, the scheduling of airline pilots based on seniority. Most drivers have home computers, and there are computers at each garage, as well as in the union hall. There’s no reason a minimally competent bus system couldn’t have computerized the schedule pick system years ago.
The city’s proposal
Regardless, the city insists on doing away with cafeteria-style scheduling and replacing it with what’s known as rostering. With rostering, there’s still the run cut, but management puts together a weekly block of shifts—the roster—and the drivers get to choose among those rosters based on seniority.
The city claims that this will reduce overtime demands. I don’t see it: as I’ve explained before, overtime exploded last year in the face of absent management and the bizarre insistence that drivers work either out of the Burnside garage or the Ragged Lake garage, but not both. Management has decreed that each garage is a separate financial entity, and drivers can’t be switched between the garages to fill needs; instead, overtime is incurred to meet needs at each garage, even when there are idle workers sitting at the other garage.
My sense is that nearly all the increased overtime costs from last year can be attributed to the opening of the new Ragged Lake garage, as can a corresponding explosion in management pay.
In order to sell rostering to drivers, Metro Transit produced an “example” of the new roster, linked to at the beginning of this post. The example was not meant to be an actual roster, but it’s interesting to have a look at it. The proposed roster doesn’t do away with any of the existing runs, but simply blocks them together in week-long choices. The built in overtime that costs the system three-quarters of a million dollars a year is still there, and the 11- and 12-hour days for drivers is still there. The only thing that is changing is that drivers will find that wee bit of control over their lives—the possibility to determine a small part of their schedule—is taken away from them.
This does nothing whatsoever to reduce overtime, but merely pisses drivers off.
So what’s going on here?
This is my thought: Metro Transit management hasn’t gotten a handle on its scheduling for maybe a decade, and is trying to pass the buck for its failures onto the drivers.
There are some tells. First, what we now know as the Bridge Terminal started its life over at the Dartmouth Shopping Centre, and was moved to its present location in 1995, yet the terminal is still called “dsc”–Dartmouth Shopping Centre—on the run cuts. Seventeen years have gone by, and no one has thought to change the run cut to reflect the proper name of the place.
Second, the run cut refers to a “gar” and a “gar3”; the second garage—gar2—was a temporary satellite garage in Burnside that was discontinued when Ragged Lake opened. Getting into the computer program and calling Burnside “Burnside” or “gar1” and Raged Lake “Ragged Lake” or “gar2” is evidently beyond the capability of the organization, so they just tacked on “gar3” and let “gar2” remain on the back end as some ancient relic.
Third, well, pencil and paper and private one-on-one interviews with drivers for schedule picks? Really? In 2012? When off-the-shelf software exists to do the job?
Fourth, sigh: GoTime. One of these days, if I can ever brace myself to deal with the colossal mess head-on, I’m going to write a detailed history of the failure of GoTime; for now, let’s just let the thing, or rather lack of the thing, speak for itself.
Fifth, putting bookkeeping ledgers above saving money for the operation of the two garages.
Sixth, no management whatsoever at Metro Transit for nearly all of 2011, but rather a rotating cast of middle managers, none accountable for the overall fiscal health of the system.
Given all these management failures, overtime exploded last year. Newly installed management was told to do something about it and rather than face the management failures directly, the decision was made to blame drivers.
As seen in the proposed rostering example, the change in schedule picks won’t reduce overtime, but it’s easy to craft an anti-union message around it, and hope for breathing space for management for a year.
The “blame the drivers” mentality has poisoned the public rhetoric around the bus system, and drivers are fearing riders’ reactions whenever the strike does end.
“I’ve got to face the riders every day,” says one driver. “But management is going around saying all this awful stuff about us; what do they think will happen?”
This article appears in Feb 23-29, 2012.
Strike is in its 25th day, not 24th. 🙂
This article is completely misleading and as usual only provides one side of the story. Did it ever occur to the writer that maybe the reason things are done the way they are is because the union demands it? In the end it segues into union propaganda against management just like every time an ATU member gets interviewed, which is the usual litany that they know better than management how to run the place, and which of course has nothing to do with the premise of the article. Criticizing the use of “DSC”? Really? That’s some hard-hitting journalism.
Thanks Tim…for finally getting some truth out there rather than HRM spin of cherry picking facts or outright lying/misrepresentation. Another fact worth mentioning is that management insists in changing the structure of shifts every 3 months for really no good reason. I believe that it is a deliberate attempt to slow the pick process down to bolster their argument. The pick process would be faster if fewer drivers had to get acquainted with radically different work. There is no need seeing as there are few changes to the overall Rider’s Guide. I once asked the Pick Supervisor why he does not have a spread sheet on the vehicle lap top with pick parameters built into the software as the senior Supervisor has at the garage. The Supervisor glibly retorted “This is Transit…what else would you expect” This seems to be more about turf battles on management’s end. For an equally interesting read I suggest Selena Ross’ article in the Chronicle Herald on the front page Friday 17 Feb regarding rostering/pick systems…it blows a major hole in the City’s position. Funny…the union bashers featured so prominently had no response to that article…no surprise there!
The Coast is super biased. Always has been always will be. I don’t read it for truth I read it for the left wing spin on things. Other publications have the right wing spin and then some where in the middle is the truth.
This detailed article thoroughly explains why ‘the pick’ has to be abolished. Thank God nurses don’t get to pick their shifts based on seniority.
‘The Pick’ was invented when a few buggies ran up and down Barrington Street in 1907. I believe we may have advanced a little since then.
@joeblow=did you not read the whole article?? Or even the run-cut? It clearly explains that the overtime is still there. Also, remember, the Buskers, Canada Games and New Years Eve caused ALOT of last years overtime. I wish people would actually read the articles before commenting.
Please take your uneducated comment to the CH.
It’s worth mentioning that a prime example of management incompetence is Shift 1130. This shift requires a driver to depart the Ragged Lake Garage at 6:19 AM to start Rt 19 until the bus is driven back to the garage for 10:35 AM. The same driver then must wait until 10:55 AM to see Dispatch for another bus to take back to Mumford to start yet again…Rt 19. Understand that this folly has nothing to do with the current pick system, seeing as shift structuring is solely the responsibility of management. If the union had any say in this it would have NEVER been allowed to stand. Contrary to the union haters/bashers ATU would have objected on the grounds that this is a waste of the driver’s time and HRM resources.
Given the arrogance of Transit management and the “we know better than you” approach to administration, we have a less “sustainable system”…a commonly over used phrase of Mayor Kelly, CAO Richard Butts, et al. Eddie Robar, the current Transit Director, was previously responsible for scheduling. This somehow made him qualified to manage the entire operation. If the example outlined is his legacy, and he is head of the HRM bargaining team, is it any wonder that we are in the mess we are in. I can’t help but think that he is what a political general would be to a defense minister. A “Yes man” appointed to do CAO Richard Butts anti labour/Union bidding.
Remember this. Anyone who swallows the line that Council, the Mayor or senior management give a damn about the taxpayers or ridership is deluding themselves. It is hard to miss or be inconvenienced by something you don’t use.
Gotta love how the person who posted this, and probably the editor who had to review it, didn’t bother googling “How to compress pdf file” to reduce the size of the files… Then again, if it’s too much to ask The Coast to write an unbiased article, I guess it’s too much to ask them to learn to use google.
No matter what you think of the article, or the slant on the article, Tim Bousquet continuously brings to light information that has not yet been seen by the public that is crucial to understanding issues in the news. For this, we should be ever-so-greatful. Journalism is shining light in dark corners. It’s up to you to make your own decisions on what you see. Thank you, Tim.
Sorry. I really do know how to spell ‘grateful’. Sheesh.
It completely blows me away when people are presented with the facts based on literature that management put out proving exactly what the union has been saying some people still beleive amnagements side. My God are you people daft, the facts are there and because they back the side you are not on you have feeble statments like above. Why is the city so beleivable to you, they prove week after week they lie and screw up costing you and I millions in tax dollars? Makes no sense to me. Tim shows where management create the OT he doesnt even cover all the other things like holiday paid at OT all the extra buses on the road for new years eve and many other events every year. In total, probably about 3 million a year!!! Coincidentally this is the same figure they blame on our pick system of costing we the tax payers. When will councillors read this and re-question managment.
Never in my life have I seen a 24/7 operation without someone’s toes getting stepped on, the military has to contend with it, the fire and police have to contend with it, hospitals, cab companies, even pizza joints. However when it comes to bus drivers, bus drivers mind you it is an unworkable system, is it because union members like to butt heads with management? is is because the more brownie points you can raise the more recognition you get from your peers as being a leader, a no nonsense person. I am afraid that is the case in this case, I think the ultimate answer for the city is to cut loose those who do not and will not conform, offer them a job more suitable to their abilities and composure,like a job on a garbage truck, no scheduling problem there, all days, week ends off, maybe after a few weeks of handling shit instead of raising shit, they just might have a change of attitude and if not, well there is always E.I.
If bus drivers want to run the Metro Transit operation – since they seem to think they can do it better – then they should apply for jobs in management and dazzle everyone with their skills. Otherwise they need to STFU and drive the damn bus.
Hey joeblow , if the pick is abolished how would a driver get their work ? Do you think management wants to pick the work for the driver ? With the rostering that management wants, each and every driver from the number 1 driver of seniority right to number 500 in seniority still has to PICK THEIR WORK !
To Bo Gus, your right the article is misleading to you because it has finally showed you the truth like a 2 by 4 to the face and just realized that all the stupid comments you made through the strike so far have put egg all over your face.
sad that even when given the facts some will still continue to trash our drives , and the issues that face them in this strike, come on grow up people………. heaven forbid that after being given the facts in black and white you have nothing to b—- about , tey being supportive and get involved to get the busses and ferrys rolling again , use you voices in a constructive manner , make your calls to those to whom it needs to be directed , your counsilers, mla’s, mp’s , and premier , stop the negativity and be productive , this mob mentality is way outta control and down right depressing ,
@Halifax resident:
I have a mental illness, but was able to find a decent paying job that supported my need for special time off that accomidated my therapists need to get me in every few weeks to see how my meds are doing. Because of this strike, I have lost my job, lost my ability to get to my appointments (My appointments are at cobequid, I live in Dartmouth), I’m almost out of meds, and won’t be able to get ALL my meds because 2 of them require triplicates… meaning they can’t be faxed OR called in to my pharmacy (luckily I have one just across the street from me). Oh, also, as I lost my job, I also lost my health plan. Meaning I can’t afford my meds anymore. So, if this strike doesn’t end soon, and I can’t find a job that has basic health plan that covers at least medication… I’m going to be screwed.
@Judi Ann Lewis:
Sad to see that someone uses The Coast as their exclusive source of news. The Coast has as much credibility in Halifax as Fox News does in the U.S.
@John Gosse:
How would a driver to get to work? Oh, I don’t know… A CAR? WE (The taxpayer and transit users) pay them enough that they can afford one. And it’s not like they don’t have a drivers license or anything. Idiot
@El Music:
You are 100% right. I haven’t seen the documents provided here anywheres else (I haven’t seen them here either, technically, as they are so incompetant they don’t even know how to compress a PDF file…)… But, considering how the Union AND the City has said they don’t want to make the deals public, this driver, if found out, is going to be in alot of crap. My contention with this article is not the fact that they produced these documents, but they can’t seem to be good journalists and remain unbiased.
Also, I love how anyone even SLIGHTLY critical of ATU is getting a craptonne of dislikes, yet anyone participating in The Coasts anti-city circlejerk gets more likes.
The level of journalism at The Coast is similar to that of The Onion. The only difference is, The Onion is more believable.
Also, I want to point out… I’m not “Pro-City”… I blame both the City AND ATU… Just, I blame ATU more than the city, as ATU were the ones that DECIDED to strike in the first place. Now, if one of the parties would release the proposed contracts, we might be able to, you know, form non-biased opinions about the strike without having to resort to biased articles like The Source keeps shitting out on a daily basis. But of course, neither party is willing to do that, because neither party gives a shit about the people that take transit. The bus drivers don’t care about the disabled that rely on their service, or those that have no other way to work… Hell, if they could get away with it without being fired, a bus driver wouldn’t even pick up people along the route, and just keep going on an empty route… and yes, they do this quite often by “forgetting” that there is a bus stop that they have only driven past 100 times on the route they have been driving for weeks/months/years
i for one do not take the bus. i bought a car years ago because the system know as metro transit suck and i can’t get a bus from my home. also metro transit drivers aren’t the only ones who have a stressfull job. my husband was in the navy for 26 years. we dealth with it.
Thank you so much for this clear and insightful explanation! Metro Transit needs to get it together!
No matter what, other cities in Canada have a better transit system with very happy Bus Driver’s making the same amount as the ones in Halifax and also facing a lot “crazy” or “rude” people than in Halifax. So what everyone needs to do is take a page out of other cities, figure out what they are doing right and go from there. And also this is an essential service. How dare any Bus Driver leave the elderly or handicapped or even a single working parent who can’t afford a car stranded. I know this is a serious issue but how dare you think of just yourselves in this manner. You have hurt thousands of lives.
i personaly think that once they do come back maybe us (the public) should go on strike and not take the bus. most of us found other means of transpertation,, lets see how they like lossing thousands of dallars each day..
People who are saying this is misleading and onesided could say the same about all the media reports coming out in the Chronicle Herald, CBC, CTV, et al. It seems that people just do not want to deal with truths behind the reason for this strike. Somebody needs to be the “devil’s advocate” here. Thanks Tim for taking on that job.
I can’t believe that the city is holding us hostage because they refuse to organise their scheduling problems. Clearly, the fault is in the management of the scheduling and not the scheduling itself.
The whole transit system here is managed poorly. Buses have to travel routes that are too long, meandering all over the city. Routes are either packed, or completely empty. Streets are either serviced by dozens of buses, or none at all. Buses are scheduled every 15 minutes and then suddenly are scheduled to arrive every hour. And why aren’t there smaller buses for less travelled routes?
Why should bus drivers be responsible for the actions of a clearly incompetent management team? How else are they going to get management to get their s%@t together, but with a strike.
Those of you who lost your jobs due to the transit strike, I wish you better working conditions too. An employer who fires someone because of uncontrollable circumstances is an bad employer.
“The geography of our narrow streets amplifies traffic or weather problems, say drivers, and our icy winters present another set of issues.”
I never understand excuses like these. Numerous cities deal with this and manage to run their buses on time. And as far as narrow streets – buy smaller buses and run at greater frequency! This is what smart cities do!!
Vince Titus: That’s smart. Then they will tax you even more to make the system keep running poorly.
Bo Gus: Are you on the management team at Metro Transit? If not you should apply for a job, you would fit right in.
Joe Blow: The pick won’t ever be abolished. If you actually read the whole article you would understand that. The schedule is always evolving and with that evolution every 3 months comes a pick. To bad evolution didn’t come knocking on your front door….
If I am reading this right. I am now a union supporter. I was sitting on the fence reading both sides but this is the exact mismanagement I have talked about in other posts.
People don’t be hatin’ on drivers who are fighting for there rights.
My first thoughts, looking at the “rostering” schedule: “Hmmm, this doesn’t look too bad, really.”
My second thoughts, after reading the article: “I really can’t believe they try to make that complex schedule with pencil and paper… Why not use a computer program? Why blame this mess on the drivers?”
Any way you want to slice it or dice it Bo Gus, the way things are done is not because of the union – management makes the cut sheets and union has no say in it. You can try and slant this anyway you want but it won’t add up. Thanks Tim for again presenting the facts that the city has been trying to have NOT brought to the public’s knowledge.
There is a lot of nonsense in this article. Some good points, but it boils down to whiny drivers. So what if they can’t take a bathroom break in 10 hours. Dude, I drove limo and I worked service jobs both for minimal pay. Neither of those jobs allowed me to take bathroom or lunch/snack breaks. My limo job required me to be at different places at unreasonable times. My service job required me to be on my feet and do a lot of hard work, more than just sitting on my butt.
The strike is not about scheduling like this article states. If that was the case, then that would be all the drivers would ask for. And in fact the city has agreed to change scheduling. The Union and drivers want more money, MUCH more money for sitting on their butts all day.
Already they are the highest paid transit drivers in the country. And at a time when most unskilled workers (like bus drivers) are struggling at or just above minimum wage, the fact that these fat cats want more money is obscene.
Driving a bus is a monkey job. Sit in a chair and turn the wheel. That’s basically the extent of the skill requirement. Same as a limo driver. Same as a Taxi driver.
A better solution is to offer to change the rostering if the drivers take a $5 and hour pay cut.
Vincent Hunter – how wrong you are – they are not even the highest paid in Atlantic Canada. Drivers in St. John’s Newfoundland make more. Should check your facts first.
I was looking at this “roster” and I can’t see how it will cut out any overtime..
shift number 37 for example… if a driver gets that shift it is for 5 days, Mon to Fri
that same driver starts work at 5:07 am at the garage, ends his shift at 3:00 at alderney.
according to my clock thats 9 hours 53 minutes… or 1 hour 53 minutes every day of overtime times 5 days … that adds up to 9.41666 hours overtime per week… and thats just 1 driver. one shift.
HOW do the city see this as cutting down on overtime? YOU do the math on some of these shifts. OR do the management have a surprise hiding between the lines for them?
Looks like the union was right afterall, the city do WANT them out on strike
mary hibbs finney…. your husband has been working navy for 26 years… first off I would like to thank him for our freedom. Its through his service that we can enjoy our freedom.
Secondly, a 26 year military person is like a 26 year bus driver, he has the cream of the crop shifts, he suns his golf clubs in cuba while the ship is being painted, drivers take another bus while their’s is in the shop.
Was it the military that got maternity leave for Canada or was it Unions??
Here is what this strike is about, and what the union won’t tell you. Currently, with the scheduling system in place, spare drivers are able to accumulate crazy amount of overtime to fill gaps created by absenteeism, vacations, etc. Rostering would decrease this overtime. This has nothing to do with the built in overtime in the shifts. This strike is being controlled by the drivers who make up to $20K extra a year in overtime. They are the minority but have the most to lose. Although Mr Bousquet’s facts are correct, they are not the whole truth.
Just one thing ……… Halifax Bus drivers are NOT the highest paid in the country…….HRM’s favorite place to talk about when referring to rostering is Brampton Ontario……they are paid $30 bucks an hour and have medical/dental benifits at no cost to them….perks that perhaps make it easier to swallow……..in the end this article is basically telling everyone is that the city stance that rostering is how they can control overtime and save money and its simply not true…
The fact of the matter is the majority of Metro Transit users are not represented in both municipal or provincial governments. In short, our issues as transit users are not being heard and the powers at be don’t care about our problems in realtion to Metro Transit.
Nova Scotia needs to tap into the national student population that reside in our province for 8 months of the year to vote on issues that matter to them. This means getting students from Ontario, New Brunswick, PEI and elsewhere that attend Nova Scotian post secondary schools to vote in our elections.
Until then, Nova Scotians will continue to pay higher tution and taxes and without recieving better public services such as health care, education and public transit.
Thank you Tim for finding documents to support your story and clear the air about the wants and needs to Metro Transit drivers.
BRoc,
have a look at the pdf files… shift 37 for example… and many more… 1 hour 53 minutes of overtime per day… 5 days a week? according to my clock thats 9.41666 hours of overtime per week..(CITY”S NEW ROSTERING) yeah the rostering will cut out overtime… get real… read your facts before you let your true lack of intelligence shine thorugh
sorry, I got excited… through…not thorugh
DRoc…..tell me how exactly a rostering system will be able to reduce ot cost caused by someone calling in sick……..do they have some kind of crystal ball that says on July 8th Driver Smith is calling in sick so we must make sure that we schedule 3 months in advance his shifts that day so they can be covered in a regular schedule and not on OT…….its more like the spare board guy gets ot because he is forced to come in on his day off because Driver Smith called in sick and even though there is a driver at the other garage waiting for a bus to drive is not allowed to come over to the garage that needs someone to cover the shift…yes lets pay one guy extra and not let him have the day off and lets pay someone else to sit in the lobby and twiddle his thumbs…the brilliance of management………..
Aha,
how dare the union and bus drivers? HOW dare the elected council to lie repeatedly to us. the council that has two responses to EVERY question… “as far as I know” and ” We didn’t realize that this was the case”
YOUR CITY AND COUNCIL are screwing you… YOURS because I fucking well didn’t vote the liars in and I am not standing behind them.
thank you so much for compiling this information and making it available to everyone.
thank you.
Can you believe Metro Transit took out a full page ad in Metro and Chronicle Herald today about a conversation that never happened? More taxpaying dollars out the window. I wonder if they have a nice playground to play on…….
Thanks Tim,after reading your article presented by a Driver,and hat’s off to him/her,it confirms what I have been told from Driver’s from the get go.I still wonder tho,why people are so brainwashed by what the City says,via CBC,Global,ATV,Metro,The chronicle hearld.etc….I see we have lots of people in our fine City who have the mentality to believe there is only one side.(2 sides to every argument) I do agree with the City however,that a 8 hour rule should be in place for Driver;s,heaven forbid,I for one donot want a Driver getting off at say,12:30am and having to go back in and start driving my little ass around at 5:00am,and falling asleep at the wheel,(nope) no thanks.I Challenge anyone,go talk to the Driver;s on the picket line,then try to talk to someone on City Council,I would guess as I here on the talk shows,they will give you a half answer,because I think they are only getting one side. Its time council get with it and stop putting all there trust in the City’s Negotiators and Demand to here both sides.
Broc, spare drivers don’t get alot of overtime anymore. They have hired enough drivers to cover everything. I was talking to a driver yesterday and he was saying that they have hired too many drivers and that 10 to 12 of them get paid to sit at home on a daily basis now. I suggest you go to a picket line and strike up a conversation with a driver. Don’t believe everything you hear but you will hear things that will surprise you about the Transit system. I have said before that some drivers are complete idiots but most of them are good, honest and hardworking men and women that are getting screwed by this inept bargaining team and the councilors that are supposed to be running this beautiful city of ours. Just sayin’…
Lots of people have terrible work conditions while making much less … Besides, just because a journalist “can’t see” how rostering would reduce overtime doesn’t mean anything.
Vincent – Drivers aren’t the issue and as a limo driver’s wife I KNOW damn well you’re blowing smoke out of peoples asses when you state you aren’t allowed a break for 10 hours… BULL SHIT! plain and simple and if you CAN hold your bowles and bladder that long by damn man see a dr there’s something physically wrong with you… (besides apparently mentally) People like you drive me nuts thinking that it’s ALL the drivers fault when it’s apparent Management and the city are trying to “brainwash” the “simple citizen” (which I like to believe I’m not one of them) I have done my research, and I believe Kelly got the union to strike to “top the coffers” He’s behind on paying many things around the city and well why not save 1.25 Million every two weeks by keeping the drivers off the road… If you’re wondering how I got that number you’d have to do A LOT of math based on the figures I have received from a pay stub I received from a driver and the “supposed” over time he gets (which I might add is not much!) that and the cost in general to run a bus on a bi weekly basis, but seeing you’re just “B*^%ing” to make yourself look big I don’t think you’d be able to wrap your brain around the concept so I won’t ask you to strain your brain. To those of you who actually READ and understood the “rostering” issue and the trials of a driver and the fact that they are NOT “trained monkeys” I bow to you for taking the time to rethink the situation and siding with the ones who actually matter, the drivers are the backbone to this city and without a GOOD driver who DOES manage to juggle all the crap they have to deal with and TRY to keep the buses on the road and somewhat on time (even if they can’t always do it they DO try) and sure there are a few a$$’es but it happens in the best of jobs, hell look at most bosses LOL… far and few in between all those who comment I have only this much to say, Metro drivers are fighting for whats best for them and I’m damn glad they are… If they didn’t and I had to see my hubby who WAS a full time limo driver who’s NOW a bus driver struggle with a new rostering system I would NEVER get to see him and he’d NEVER get to see his brand new daughter… frankly I don’t like the idea of our lives being screwed up because the city “CLAIMS” to have to get the over time issue under control and blame the drivers for it when it’s not their fault in the first place. To the local 508 🙂 Stick to your guns!!! I want my husband to know his daughter, not to be a “ship passing in the night”
to those who insult my posting … so what… what ever… everyone is entitled to their opinion and opinions are like a$$holes… everyone has one… just some of them stink!
Its a sad day for HAlifax and Nova Scotia.
A city that is so proud to have wonthe bid for the shipbuilding contract. Ship building that will be done by thousands of union members, a city with thousands of healthcare workers, also unionized, a city of pilots, ground workers, inside and outside workers, a water commission, bell aliant, highway coach drivers and inside workers, carpenters union, IBEW Just to name a few off the top of my head, and I apologize to any I have left out. SHAME on you, letting the ATU508 stand alone in this dispute. Voice your opinion as they would for you. The last time you were on strike, didn’t EVERY bus that passed your line toot the horn, didn’t they call into open line shows for you? didn’t they refuse to pay their phone bill until the strike was over?
Instead, we let a tiny municipal government.,… as corrupt as it is… with concert cash, overpaid overpasses, cancelled commonwealth games bids, school law suits, breaking their OWN laws and who can forget the cats, the chickens…. we will let them win? break the union? Lets not let this become another last will and testiment that Teflon Kelly can hid from. Lets break this council.
IN SOLIDARITY
To Vincent T Hunter…. Whiny bus drivers eh??? Got news for you, driving a bus is not a monkey a job. I drove Limo for 20 years… and compared to driving a bus, limo is an easy job. Until you sit in the drivers seat of a bus, drive for 10 hours, not go the bathroom, not get the chance to eat your lunch, sit in traffic hour when there is an accident on the bridge or a snowstorm, have people complain to you because you are late when its beyond your control, when you get spit at when you tell a passenger transfer is expired, finish your shift at Scotia Square, then have to find your own way back to the garage, go home eat and wind down and get to spend 5 minutes with your family, only to have to get up 6 hours later to do it all again…. then you can come talk to me about how being a bus driver is a monkey job. Drivers here are NOT the highest paid! When you actually get a job that requires as much attention as this one does.. let me know. So if I were you, LEARN THE FACTS before you start blowing air out of your hole!!!!
This article does not address the issue of leaving some of the more undesirable shifts ‘unassignable’ after the better ones are chosen through cafeteria-style scheduling. The city has always maintained that additional overtime costs are accrued to cover these erroneous shifts, and that is what they need rostering to solve. Shifts need to be assigned in a particular order so that they can all be covered properly (and legally) in regular working blocks.
Reviewing the shifts individually is one thing, but as someone who works in a scheduling department, I know the big picture is a completely different story. For example, arranging the shifts properly in blocks can help prevent having a pile of Friday night and early Saturday shifts being left over that cannot be booked together due to a minimum number of hours required between shifts. With this example, drivers need to be called back for an overtime shift or remain on overtime to cover those Friday night shifts that are outstanding after the cafeteria picking.
Thank you Amos. Very well explained and is exactly what I’ve been saying all along.
To the concerns of BRoc/Amos Pitman,
ATU met on March 28, 2010 at the request of management to hold a referendum related to Spare board guidelines to ease transition into the Ragged Lake Transit Centre. Kenny Wilson was heard on many occasions saying “management has the right to manage” and “overtime is not a right” in the lead up to this vote. THIS IS THE TRUTH! As a result of this vote two separate spare boards were created at the behest of management. All vacation work was assigned to a separate Vacation Board. This eliminated any over time implications to cover driver vacations save for any that management structured into the constituent shifts. This constituted a considerable concession in the middle of an existing contract. The membership hoped that in living up to a sense of corporate responsibility, we would set the stage for constructive dialogue for the new contract. How the membership was mistaken!
With the opening of the new garage, management structured it’s resources as it saw fit. “management has the right to mismanage?” Ragged Lake was almost immediately short of workers and began to accrue overtime. The union approached management and suggested mobility of Spare Board operators between garages. We had always advocated for one Spare Board to cover both. Management stated that payroll software could not accommodate this contingency. Meanwhile, management grew to a ratio of 8.5 workers for every manager/supervisor. Toronto Transit has a ratio of 27 to 1. Approximately 300 supervisors/managers for the entire operation. Also, with management mandated changes to fare collection practices/policies recovery of cost went from 76% to 45% in 10 years. WHERE IS THE SUSTAINABILITY IN THAT? Know we are at a cross roads, the city will not raise taxes and fares….so obtain it out of the asses of the workers…instead of fixing the systemic problems of fare evasion and over management.
The over time “problem” will never go away. This is an inconvenient truth about scheduled time sensitive operations. ATU has offered a minor easement in the rest period to eliminate breaches, assigning pick orphaned shifts at straight time or making Spare Board operators 5 day rather than 6 with staggered days off to ensure coverage. This hands the overtime “problem” completely to management. HRM has turned these proposals down flat. Why?
We are as confused as you are. Most employers recognize loyal service whether union or not. Retail managers are often loath to assign long service employees to evening or weekend work if junior workers are available. I know…I worked retail while in university! The “Rostering” red herring is a clever tactic to destroy 1 of the only 2 rewards loyal service to this employer gives. The other is picking of vacation weeks. Contrary to HRM ads and misinformation by Council, the Mayor and CAO Richard Butts, contract proposals are not conforming to their much overstated industry best practices. Other jurisdictions feature heavy union involvement in the structure of work and an honest collaborative effort to sustain a healthy and productive work force. In good faith. This is not the case here.
To the traveling public…no one in this union wanted this strike! Our place is in the driver seat, ferry bridge or decks, repair shops and support work. This strike is now ideological for HRM Council and Management. I doubt they have any intention of settling this strike soon or ever…without significant public pressure to do so. To the union bashers/haters I know who I am, I know what I do, I know what I contribute to the citizens of this city and what I justifiably earn. I DON’T OWE YOU ANY APOLOGY! You want something…go after the people who have the control and the deep pockets…we have the watches, they have the time….the clock is ticking! Apply some pressure to get a deal done.
To my union brothers and sisters, we know the truth…get it out there…now! Apathy is contagious but so is determination and perseverance. I support and care about each and everyone of you! I’ve got your back any day…get well soon Dale!
Metro Transit does use computerized scheduling system to build the duties. The algorithm uses a system of rules and preferences in order to build shifts in order to reduce paid time as well as the number of drivers required to operate all the bus trips while respecting the union’s collective aggreement. Clearly the author did little reasearch on how duties are built and optimized. It is a common practice to build overtime in certain shifts. These algorithms puts a higher premium on the number of shifts compared to paying overtime. The reason being, that it costs less to pay a bit of overtime here and there compared to hiring extra drivers to cover the work. This is run cutting 101.
What rostering will bring is a reduction in overtime due to the unassigned shifts left over after the cafeteria style pick is done.
News Flash….. Metro Transit spends millions on rostering software prior to Sept. 1st, 2011. That is why they want rostering so badly. Some reports are saying as much as 6 million. We haven’t had transit in weeks because of this? Are you kidding me……
News Flash…the city wants rostering because it is a more efficient scheduling system. The union is holding the public hostage for this? You got to be kidding me…
To Truthseeker:
“management grew to a ratio of 8.5 workers for every manager/supervisor. Toronto Transit has a ratio of 27 to 1”
I don’t think we can compare Halifax to Toronto – there are very few similarities. Additionally, this is not about the size of Metro Transit management. It is possible this is an area of potential belt-tightening, but is an issue unrelated to rostering.
“the city will not raise taxes and fares….so obtain it out of the asses of the workers”
Are you saying it is inappropriate for management to attempt to reduce overtime? Otherwise, I fail to see how this is related to the outstanding issue of rostering.
The city says cafeteria-style scheduling increases overtime, and you say it does not. I’m sure the more complicated system that you prefer costs more in administrative time, but no member of the general public can know for sure without the time and resources to pour through years of Metro Transit financial records and compare them with other companies.
What we can know for sure is that union members are demanding a luxury that no one else has. We are inclined to believe there is a financial downside to this style of scheduling if no other companies are willing to use it. Most of us do not even have the option to choose our shifts in weekly blocks like you will continue to enjoy! This is where you are losing support.
“I DON’T OWE YOU ANY APOLOGY!”
We are not asking for an apology. We are asking for you to accept working conditions similar to those of the rest of us!
Dear Amos Pitman,
In response to your comment, there is a direct comparison between transit operations. The crux of this argument is that Metro Transit is over managed. Your technical speak leads me to believe you are here representing management or at least tied to the city’s bargaining team. If so, I and everyone else, I believe, would like you to disclose this fact for clarity. Thank you for taking some of my comments out of context. On the apology issue, I recall qualifying that statement with “union bashers/haters” I stand by that. I have nothing against intelligent discourse.
As for overtime, Cafeteria Picking is not the problem. This system of picking is alive and well in many jurisdictions. ATU has already offered concessions to HRM to eliminate overtime resulting from orphaned shifts. The public needs to know that HRM from day one has engaged in an archaic tactic called “Ultimatum Bargaining”.
Here is an insight. The HRM offer forced on the membership in late January included a contract clause requiring a physicians note for any sick occasion regardless of a workers attendance record. Further, management would reserve the right to refuse that note and deny the sick time. Who in their right mind would ever consent to that? Now you know why a 98.5% mandate was given by the membership.
Management has through it’s arrogance and “take it or leave it” attitude, poisoned the employer/worker relationship. There is a profound lack of trust on the union’s part for the employer. It’s growing. I, or any other union member, is free to exercise his or her conscience on any issue. I do not have to accept an offer that violates my basic rights. I do not have a right to overtime, lets be clear. The union recognizes that fact.
As I said before, this strike for the employer is ideological. Everyone has a right to make their own conclusions. Until they stop the tactics that have and are being employed…this strike could be a long one. This is the last post I will make on this site, draw your own conclusions. Thank you for your time and consideration.
My!My!My!
I had no idea there were so many experts on the issues surrounding Metro Transit in the Halifax area. I encourage all these experts to come forward at the next recruitment opportunity and apply. You should wiz through that with your keen knowledge of this complex industry. Your advice would be invaluable and no doubt you would have a run at the top positions without going through the bus driver experience. Gosh, “I had no idea”:)
Thanks to Mr Bousquet’s excellent article, (Kudos Tim) I have had the opportunity to look at the actual documents in question for myself, instead of hearing and reading nothing but council’s rhetoric, and seriously biased media coverage (but that’s another story). I now take issue with the manner in which the city and Metro Transit have misrepresented this proposed ‘Rostering’ system; claiming savings that can only be achieved by it’s implementation. Upon examination of both scheduling models it is quite clear that there are many complexities involved to achieve an efficient economic transit schedule that gives us the best value for our taxpayer’s buck. Yet there are no
‘True savings’. As the existing method of work allocation and the proposed rostering system clearly show: there will be the same number of routes, man hours required, drivers needed for special events etc. regardless of which computer software program is used. Which brings me to the question? If Mr Robar’s scheduling department (remember; Mr Robar headed this dept) cannot input the data into the existing program to achieve an efficient three month bus schedule without incurring overtime costs, whatever makes us think they will do any better with the new software!
Council and Metro transit have portrayed the rostering as ‘how the drivers pick their work’- It is not – It is three months of bus routes for HRM. All of these routes, hours of work, days off are dictated by management, and allocated to drivers in order of seniority.
(We all have some form of seniority in work; Vacations are allocated according to how long you have been employed by the company, same goes for days off).
In all honesty I don’t think that the negotiation of a new contract between the employees and Metro transit, including whether the work is assigned or picked, has anything to do with the public. I don’t have the right to tell a bus driver what working conditions I think they may or may not be entitled to. Just as they do not have any say in my work conditions.
Mr Robar is either misrepresenting the facts to council, or council is in collusion with Metro transit, or they are all Butt’s puppets. But I am fed up with seeing council manipulating the public emotions by engaging in a media campaign attacking the drivers, in efforts to keep the taxpayers distracted from the real truth of their complacency regarding a top heavy, overpaid management that has run our transit system into debt with their poor management skills. It is now very obvious that council do not have a strong argument for ‘rostering’. They don’t want us to know that they screwed up the contract negotiations, and seem to be trying to intimidate the drivers with these asinine responses. The fire barrels being a prime example!
Well I am a taxpayer. I take the bus to and from work everyday…This is my message to Council…Settle this contract with the drivers. Let them have a method of work allocation that works for them. It is council’s fault that the buses sit idle at Metro transit.
The sooner we the people gain control of our city, away from the communists and communistas, the better for everyone. All hail the new world order! lol.
Seriously though, I’m more than happy to keep these fools out for as long as they want. They could’ve stopped this any time they wanted to by agreeing to the city’s reasonable demands.
Their time to capitulate is now over however, and it’s going to have to be their commie friends at Province house who put an end to this, the city isn’t going to put an end to it – and rightly so – we’ve all called them and emailed them and told them not to budge.
It would be easier on these ATU fools if we were all just brainwashed by a conservative conspiracy – sadly for them this is not the case.
The issues are not difficult to comprehend, the citizens just don’t agree.
The entire city doesn’t agree. Indeed even other public sector union communists – afraid their reputations are being further tarnished by the ATU’s actions – don’t agree with this strike and how it has been handled.
The self-entitlement coming from the ATU – their superiority (or is that infereiority?) complex is just a sad spectacle to watch. And watch I do, as I am walking back and forth to work every day.
This is the citizens, ATU’s real employers, pulling the rug out from under them for their reprehensible actions, and now they’ll pay like the public has been paying since day one.
I really hope they are enjoying the fruits of their”labor”…
To the concerns of BRoc/Amos Pitman,
ATU met on March 28, 2010 at the request of management to hold a referendum related to Spare board guidelines to ease transition into the Ragged Lake Transit Centre. Kenny Wilson was heard on many occasions saying “management has the right to manage” and “overtime is not a right” in the lead up to this vote. THIS IS THE TRUTH! As a result of this vote two separate spare boards were created at the behest of management. All vacation work was assigned to a separate Vacation Board. This eliminated any over time implications to cover driver vacations save for any that management structured into the constituent shifts. This constituted a considerable concession in the middle of an existing contract. The membership hoped that in living up to a sense of corporate responsibility, we would set the stage for constructive dialogue for the new contract. How the membership was mistaken!
With the opening of the new garage, management structured it’s resources as it saw fit. “management has the right to mismanage?” Ragged Lake was almost immediately short of workers and began to accrue overtime. The union approached management and suggested mobility of Spare Board operators between garages. We had always advocated for one Spare Board to cover both. Management stated that payroll software could not accommodate this contingency. Meanwhile, management grew to a ratio of 8.5 workers for every manager/supervisor. Toronto Transit has a ratio of 27 to 1. Approximately 300 supervisors/managers for the entire operation. Also, with management mandated changes to fare collection practices/policies recovery of cost went from 76% to 45% in 10 years. WHERE IS THE SUSTAINABILITY IN THAT? Know we are at a cross roads, the city will not raise taxes and fares….so obtain it out of the asses of the workers…instead of fixing the systemic problems of fare evasion and over management.
The over time “problem” will never go away. This is an inconvenient truth about scheduled time sensitive operations. ATU has offered a minor easement in the rest period to eliminate breaches, assigning pick orphaned shifts at straight time or making Spare Board operators 5 day rather than 6 with staggered days off to ensure coverage. This hands the overtime “problem” completely to management. HRM has turned these proposals down flat. Why?
We are as confused as you are. Most employers recognize loyal service whether union or not. Retail managers are often loath to assign long service employees to evening or weekend work if junior workers are available. I know…I worked retail while in university! The “Rostering” red herring is a clever tactic to destroy 1 of the only 2 rewards loyal service to this employer gives. The other is picking of vacation weeks. Contrary to HRM ads and misinformation by Council, the Mayor and CAO Richard Butts, contract proposals are not conforming to their much overstated industry best practices. Other jurisdictions feature heavy union involvement in the structure of work and an honest collaborative effort to sustain a healthy and productive work force. In good faith. This is not the case here.
To the traveling public…no one in this union wanted this strike! Our place is in the driver seat, ferry bridge or decks, repair shops and support work. This strike is now ideological for HRM Council and Management. I doubt they have any intention of settling this strike soon or ever…without significant public pressure to do so. To the union bashers/haters I know who I am, I know what I do, I know what I contribute to the citizens of this city and what I justifiably earn. I DON’T OWE YOU ANY APOLOGY! You want something…go after the people who have the control and the deep pockets…we have the watches, they have the time….the clock is ticking! Apply some pressure to get a deal done.
To my union brothers and sisters, we know the truth…get it out there…now! Apathy is contagious but so is determination and perseverance. I support and care about each and everyone of you! I’ve got your back any day…get well soon Dale!
I work in the uk,i drive for a company called stagecoach,who also owns coach canada,i know if i use a service bus to work,and its late the company takes responsabilty for as long as we tell them,and we always finish at our home depot,i do our shifts and rotas,i wont keep a driver on a bus anymore than 4 hours,40 min break and maybe another 4 hours.
I do thing you guys are needing to adopted the E.U driving rules which are very strict and most buses have recording equipment to ensure there enforced,there are a pain but there to protect us and insure fairness in the industry,but driving a straight 8 hours isnt good,plus it costs jobs and bloody dangerous,