Halifax transit workers have overwhelming rejected a contract offer from the city, and could therefore go on strike February 2.
The contract vote was unambiguous. About 700 of the 763 transit workers cast ballots, with 98.4 voting against—fewer than 10 people voted to accept the city’s offer, says Ken Wilson, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 508, which represents local transit workers.
The city’s contract offer was “an insult” to the workers, says Wilson, who maintains that the city has acted in bad faith since the union’s previous contract expired in September.
The city offered a small pay increase, but that wasn’t the sticking point, says Wilson. “What is the point of striking over wages in 2012? I know the economy’s bad. The state of the economy—everyone’s going through a downturn—we understand that.”
Rather, says Wilson, the city is trying to turn back previous agreements over scheduling, the use of part-time employees and, most importantly, contracting out entire job categories like mechanics, Access-A-Bus drivers, ferry staff and potentially even regular route drivers.
At the first contract negotiation meeting in September, management proposed 270 changes to the previous contract. Rather than bargain over terms, in October management called in a concilliator; with the concilliator present, the two sides met just twice in December and four times in January.
“Let me be crystal clear: there was absolutely no bargaining taking place at any of these dates,” says Wilson. “This employer never came to the table to bargain; they came to the table with one mandate only—to take from us.”
Wilson uses as an example a conflict over ferry operations. “There was something that the employer wanted, and there was something that I wanted,” says Wilson. “And I said, ‘OK, what are you prepared to offer?’ And all of a sudden they threw their pens down and said, ‘We’re not here to offer nothing.’ I looked at the concilliator and said, ‘This is not bargaining; this is demanding.’”
The concilliator’s report is not public record, and Wilson will not divulge its contents, but other union members have told The Coast it’s highly critical of the city.
The union made a counter offer last week, which was rejected by the city, and so Wilson had no choice but to take the city’s offer to membership for a vote.
Wilson is not surprised at the lopsided vote to reject the offer. “My people are extremely offended,” he says. “This employer has basically slapped their employees in the face with this offer.”
After the vote, the city issued a press release saying it was “disappointed” at the outcome. “We put forward a contract package, inclusive of wage increases, that would allow us to build a sustainable, reliable transit service for the future,” says Metro Transit manager Eddie Robar in the release.
This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2012.
“…that would allow us to build a sustainable, reliable transit service for the future” as someone who did not grow up here and mistakes our current unreliable service for a measuring stick I find this fairly offensive. The employees may not be perfect but from what i can tell most do their best to make due with mostly outdated buses [some of these things belong in a museum!!], horrible schedules and poor working conditions. I suggest the employer is forced for a year to rely on metro transit to get around in town. Maybe then they will realize that the service needs to be dramatically improved. One first step on the way to a reliable service is treating the employees with respect….
If they go on strike I expect a privatized transit workforce. This isn’t a service that people can live without. We already pay enough tax dollars into their already generous salaries benefits and pensions.
I was in a union once, but during a strike I decided I didn’t want a Union, who collects dues and doesn’t pay taxes and doesn’t have MY best interests in mind in the first place – speaking for me any longer.
The union is holding 100,000 people in this city hostage hoping we will do their negotiation for them ,lazy bastards. Typical union minds at work.
I agree their working conditions may not be top notch, but isn’t it incumbent on employees to educate themselves on working conditions before they accept a job opportunity?
Sure, cave into their demands – the day Unions start paying taxes, like the rest of us.
It’s obvious, the union leaders/members have their own dictionary or tonge , especially in Canada…they speak & demand the same from coast to coast. I find it amazing that they all choose to strike months after they’re contract expires, instead of on the date of expiration…..that they all demand ‘respect’ (respect for what, why?)…..that they forget they bargain for & usually get many ‘perks’ never given to private sector employees…..that the public never really knows(or is this a media thing) what perks & earnings they now get…..it’s high time the public is informed about these matters, before the union members/leaders ask for more!
Comment #1 knows nothing about unions , comment #2 knows nothing about taxes. I work in a union, we are safer due to better training, part timers and non union contractors cannot be regulated safely. I , as a union member pay taxes, I also pay for my pension and benefits out of my pay. We care about the public , we are , and our families are part of the public. Remember unions are responsible for Labour Standards, eight hour workdays, weekends, health Insurance, Minimum wage, OHS, WCB, and the abolishment of child labour. We , the Unions of North America are for all members of the workforce. The establishment of the municipality is about money and unions are about the people.
You don’t care about the public – you are more than happy to use your customers as pawns against your employer, to get what you want – and what you want isn’t shared with your customers.
Should I take your attempt to use me against your employer to get your demands met as an invitation to the bargaining table? Where is the citizens’ representative?
Your UNION pays no taxes. And gets no respect from me. Enjoy your strike pay
To all the Haters:
There’s just no talking to you, the ignorant, uneducated masses who believe the world owes them everything. “Greedy, lazy bastards”??? I say “nay nay”….
This union is simply trying to keep the basic standards and practices they work & abide by from day to day. Their fellow brethren fought hard for many years before them to lay this foundation they work under and they’re merely just trying to uphold it. You wouldn’t like, appreciate or stand for YOUR employer coming to you and radically changing things that would force you to lose the basic remunerations and benefits you’ve come to expect and rely on, so don’t think just because someone pays into union dues that they’re all greedy, lazy bastards. Furthermore, it takes to to tango, and the EMPLOYER’s refusing to dance. As I see it, THEY, not the union are the ones “ordering” this strike. If they even went to the table to discuss their employee’s futures rather than just proposing what amounts to be a serious budget cut for the city, WHERBY THE PUBLIC –AS WELL AS THE BUS DRIVER– LOSES & SUFFERS IN THE END, this wouldn’t be happening.
If you’re a line cook, and mgmt comes to you and says, “We’re replacing you with a part time employee whom not only can I pay less, I also don’t have to pay for their benefit package.”, you’d thank your damn ignorant lucky stars if you had a union backing your plight to keep things as they were before mgmt came in with ridiculous proposals. Strength in numbers, solidarity baby, it gets shit done. Please, if you’ve never worked in the industry, you really can’t know what they’re up against, so just save yourself the angst ridden babble and go look at puppies on You Tube.
Gary — to address a few points
A union can’t just strike whenever. There are labour laws in place that restrict and place procedures around how and when a union can be in a legal strike position. Striking the day the contract ends isn’t possible as both union and management have a legal requirement to go through steps of bargaining and third party concilation before they can be in a position to strike or lockout. Transit got put in a legal strike position when HRM Management forced them into conciliation and after 5 conciliation meetings the conciliator filed their report with the labour board. Only at that time can they hold a strike vote to see if it is something their membership supports.
“Perks” and wages that you are saying are hidden from the public really aren’t. If you google Halifax Metro Transit collective agreement or ATU 501 Collective Agreement with teh City of Halifax you will find a PDF document of the entire expired contract online which outlines what rights and benefits the transit union is given.
The union executive and the majority of the union members have stated a few times in media that they aren’t really demanding much. The union has expressed that wage increases were not an issue, and have mentioned that they would be happy to extend the current contract (this isn’t a demand of more perks and benefits).
What they are fighting is the city’s increased pressure to contract out services and make all new employees (and the last 200 hired) part timers, therefore decreasing job security to its current staff. Makes sense to have some new part timers coming in to address scheduling adn overtime issues, but to take 200 newly hired employees and take away their full time positions is ridiculous.
HRM’s push for part time is contributing to an overall problem with Nova Scotia’s economy and living conditions…yes, lets increase employments rates overall by hiring more people to do part time jobs, with no benefits and no gaurentee of hours, just to show that our unemployment rates are dropping.
@ Allan
If my employer came to me with unreasonable demands I would speak up – orr I would go find a new job. I, unlike you apparently, have the balls to stand on my own and do it myself. I’m sorry you wouldn’t know how to do that without holding your customers hostage as a part of your little game.
Of course it takes two to tango. Management are no better, I am sure. More like mismanagement.
You are both culpable in my mind. Equally. The one’s more than happy to throw their customers under the bus (Bus Drivers and their Union) and management (who couldn’t run an effective service if their life depended on it).
Strength in numbers? solidarity?
You think the bus drivers have it bad now, just wait to see what your customers tell you over the next ten days
Where is the governor of Wisconsin when you need him.
Too bad it’s not the fault of the drivers/employees that the service is so bad (excepting, of course, douchebag bus drivers: you know who you are) which makes it hard for Joe Public to sympathise with their cause. Sorry guys.
http://youtu.be/LgU1dZm-hcM
They are gonna go on strike, no they shouldn’t be. It’s just like Canada Post, the public support is going to quite a bit less than these people think.
“Where is the governor of Wisconsin when you need him”
He is currently being recalled! He will be out of a job soon lol Over a million signatures so far. That’s what happens when you trample on workers 1st amendment right. Republicans love “Right to Work” – It’s a political ploy to lower worker’s wages and benefits,.( more money for the 1%)
I’m a union supporter, however this service (transit) is AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE, whether the city, Metro Transit or the union recognize this or not; to thousands of people who use Metro Transit everyday it is ESSENTIAL that they get the bus to work. In 1998 when the transit system went on strike for 5 weeks I lost my job simply because I couldn’t get to work (and I was one of many). Just like nurses, firefighters and/or police this needs to be classified as an ESSENTIAL service. While on strike the busses could run on “holiday” or Sunday scheduling so the folks who DEPEND on the bus to get to work could atleast have a chance to get to work.
@ Jamie
Well hopefully that means he is on his way up here – public sector unions should be illegal. Perhaps he can help 🙂
If we had a secondary service we could use instead, if Metro Transit weren’t a monopoly, ATU could spend as much time on the picket lines as they like.
Since it isn’t, I and many other customers will be used as pawns by a greedy Union, I’m ready to oust all their asses to the curb. Heave ho!
It’s obvious Lori Patterson lacks imagination and that the bus schedule needs heavy restructuring. I’d love to hear the reason for Sunday schedules, maybe it’s a union/overtime anachronism.
It makes sense that they would try and contract-out the ferry system. With 5 managers and the proposed refits, I’m sure that thing must be hemorrhaging money. And let’s not forget that article about abused overtime among Metro Transit + Police employees. I got no proof, but my gut says that the senior ferry staff are the culprits.
Honestly, I’d love to see what we’re shelling out in wages for staff and management.
Do the math: 1 bus with 1 driver is far cheaper than 1 ferry with 4+ crew members and engineers.
And sometimes you gotta cut off a thumb to save the whole hand.
It’s obvious Lori Patterson lacks imagination and that the bus schedule needs heavy restructuring. I’d love to hear the reason for Sunday schedules, maybe it’s a union/overtime anachronism.
It makes sense that they would try and contract-out the ferry system. With 5 managers and the proposed refits, I’m sure that thing must be hemorrhaging money. And let’s not forget that article about abused overtime among Metro Transit + Police employees. I got no proof, but my gut says that the senior ferry staff are the culprits.
Honestly, I’d love to see what we’re shelling out in wages for staff and management.
Do the math: 1 bus with 1 driver is far cheaper than 1 ferry with 4+ crew members and engineers.
And sometimes you gotta cut off a thumb to save the whole hand.
Question: How many progressives who burst their piles over the nasty old cops tearing down the Occupy shanty-town on a cold, wet day in November are four-square behind the noble union for walking off the job in February?
Unless management is contracting out services to 3rd generation “jellyfish babies” from Bikini Atoll, it’s hard to see how standards can drop too shockingly.
@dartmouthy: Greedy union? What greedy union? Stop basing your argument around a preconceived OPINION about all unions. They would have extended the current contract. You sound ass-ish.
Look furious…
I don’t blame the drivers at all… they are forced into the union as they are hired, and then they are “in the club” no matter what.
I consider the union a different entity from the bus drivers.
I doubt union leadership rides the bus just like metro transit leadership doesn’t! And city hall for that matter. Either way the customers loose in every way imaginable with this impending strike. Shitty service before, even more costly and probably just as shitty after.
There is still no accountability built into the system anywhere. No suggestions accepted no meaningful dialogue with citizens, a probably criminally run seriously questionable organization in any other place! Lol. Seriously go time in and of itself is criminal. How many millions how many decades have they been trying to get it together??
The bus drivers are left like a demoralized rudderless boat waffling along with inept Management on one side, and Unions looking for tax free income and “strength” on the other.
I have no problems with unions as long as they operate in an environment with competition. Otherwise these ideas of legislating job security or wages are ludicrous. It harms the customer every time, and in this case we’ve been suffering a long long long time.
See, that was much more reasonable an argument. Ass-less even.
dartmouthy, you really don’t have a clue about Unions at all.
Unions may not pay taxes, but they hire administrative staff, pay them good wages, with benefits out of the collected Union dues. These employees are taxed. They rent office space , & or buy a property…they are taxed on the property or business tax or both. They must open a Corporate company with the Union members as its share holders. Corporations are taxable in N.S.
Unions used collected dues to offset costs for training. They are industry leaders in safety training, anti bullying practices, fair wages between genders for similar work & respect in the work place. Dues are used for life insurance policies at no additional cost to the member, at rates because of bulk buying, lower then you could ever possibly get on your own. With that going to their loved ones if they die, or programs for assistance & rehabilitation if injured.
Many Unions chapters at the local level, unlike what you often see International level, have Executive members who work for free & volunter hundreds of hours a year. Or get honorariums that would equal 2 ,maybe 3 dollars an hour when figured out against the hours a year they attend to the local Unions business & members needs.
These transit people aren’t wanting to strike, they are being forced by the employer into a strike situation. If they wanted to strike they have been eligible to do so for months.
You really need to stop viewing the world as if your at the centre of it. IF any outside action adversely effects you, then anyone involved is a demon, deserves nothing but contempt & firing because they’re the problem & should just shut up & let their jobs be given away to others definately be paid less an hour, but you won’t see a savings…because the private company needs to make its profit & the big bosses need their 200 % wage increases, so you’ll see increased costs & losses of service & other cuts. One only needs to look at privatised NS power & the plowing of our streets to see what privatization does for us ! ! ! ! !
THe city is causing this , not the poor damn metro Transit workers who only want to continue working & had no wage increase demands…& were happy with a cost of living 4 percnet over the next couple of years,as offered by the city . as the story says. SO what part about they(AKA the bus drivers) didn’t want a big raise & just want to keep their jobs…. DON’T YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND !
And if you think this is going to inconvenience you…how do you think those poor bastards feel when their employers trying to screw them over & only the connected few will actually profit ?
@ more
In Russia job has you.
Here we have a competitive system, where people strive to be better and don’t want what amounts to guaranteed handouts from the largest employer in the land… Government.
Or is that the motherland, er um, wonderland all of us have been dreaming about and I lost my way? lol
The orange kool aid has officially rotted your brain. I’m sorry you need a union to think and act for you, since you are unable to do as an individual what I and countless others do every single day of our lives.
We live in a world where hard work and an education leads to the chance at a higher standard of living.
I don’t expect tax-payers to artificially inflate my wages and benefits for my own gain, as nice that might be.
I respect my fellow citizens too much to hold them hostage for my own selfish demands.
And you accuse me of thinking it’s all about me.
Look in a mirror
Public transit really should just be classified as an essential service. We live in an increasingly urban society. When transit workers go on strike, it leaves a lot of people in the lurch, harms the really vulnerable who have no other options, damages the economy since employers all over the place are left without employees, hurts the environment through additional greenhouse gases and sets the whole movement towards more sustainable living back. How can you ask people to leave the car at home or not buy a car if you can’t guarantee them service? Transit stirkes just makes for a lose-lose and lose some more all around and really aren’t worth it. Contracts for transit should be settled through binding arbitration. Binding arbitration would make it difficult for either side to be too unreasonable.
I will tell you from experience that all the union officers within ATU are all full time people in their jobs. I years ago held a position in my union. I was a full time driver first and foremost. I got paid a very small honorarium and as a member described it amounted to a few dollars an hour. Some months amounted to less then a dollar an hour. I sat on committees to help represent the unions interest on how management does things. We have few committees that deal with public and how we service them. One such committee gives management advice on changing schedule times. Routing and trying to make the customer experience a better one. The problem is that a lot of the suggestions we make we are told that they need to do a “study” to confirm our suggestions would work. It doesn’t seem to matter that we are on the road seeing these things with our own eyes. I eventually gave up on the committees because I didn’t have the fight left in me t o argue with them as to how relative our suggestions where. As for the union position I decided to step aside years ago to let younger people with a longer career left step in.
Dartmouthy you ass
Here we have a system where the employers REALLY REALLY REALLY want to pay everyone minimum wage or less.
Make sure no one works full time, Part time makes much more sense for employers, no over time, no benefits, no job security
Someone may be drinking kool aid, but its obviously an ass like you . Workers like myself are valued by our bosses & we realise that the industry I work for is only as profitable as it is, because when I bid a job I bring the right experience & people to the job. That I can do it on time & on budget & have over 30 years experience at it. The employers recognise this as well & never have i had to work non union.
I was one of the first people in Nova Scotia to wear a safty harness while walking steel at height, 1982, no one even sold full body harnesses in Nova Scotia, yet we Union members led the way.
like we do in training etc.
We remember the past & know that all that will happen if the hatchet men of the City are allowed to erode the standards & wages of the workers in Metro Transit is it will go downhill, first for the most vulnerable & then for every one else, while costs will never come down ,because the management will need super high paid top people to run the workers.
You a no nothing asshole who spews bullshit because you can’t say anything backed up by facts.
Go to the bitch site & see my resopnse to your bullshit there.
have a nice day
Enjoy your minimum wage job…your damn lucky there are Unions or you wouldn’t even have that pittance of pay.
Because I’m such an ass More, I’ll reply here too.
More, you have successfully added more union talking points to your initial message here than I thought was possible, so I’ll do my best to responds since I’d hate to leave you hanging and hurt your feelings.
You rail against privatization as if it is evil, yet the real evil is monopolies and lack of competition. Look at the NSLC for example – who is against competition in the liquor store and beer store area? The unions who represent NSLC workers – because cashiers “deserve” to get paid $25 an hour with full tax-payer paid benefits packages, while all the other cashiers in the province get minimum wage.
Am I to deduct these Unions are in fact fighting for all the cashiers of the world now?
Nope. Just looking out for their member’s best interests – fine, but this is not necessarily aligned with the consumer’s best interests, the taxpayer’s best interests, or certainly a small business mans best interests.
You hit the nail on the head in one way – This Metro Transit strike is certainly about the 1%… The Bus Drivers are the 1% in this case however, all 700 of them. The consumers of the monopoly are the 99% – all 96,000 of them.
Silly consumers, we will call their opinion uneducated and call them names instead, they should live losing their job so we can keep ours!
You bring up Nova Scotia Power as a union talking point too of course – fine, but they are still a monopoly. If we had true competition in the electricity space in this province, things would indeed be different, so I’m not really getting your example. Privatization is not the enemy, it is the lack of free markets in this province that is the enemy.
Union talking point #34, the snowing and salting services… nothing like exploiting people’s short memories and pointing out the recent storm with crappy snow clearing – that would never happen if our union brothers and sisters were snow clearing, right More? LOL. Wow this soap box must be seven stories tall by now!
I will certainly work on dying just for you though More, I’m somewhere between a third and half way there – though if I turn up at the bottom of the harbor, you can thank your ”brothers and sisters” over at the transit union for speeding up the process.
Those in our society who are the most vulnerable can’t afford busses and ferries now More! What is your point?
Who at Metro Transit is making 50 to 100 times what bus drivers are making? What is your point?
Who is asking for a cut in fares, and how is that even realistic? What is your point?
Reducing choices for employees and consumers alike, holding customers and tax payers hostage for their demands (no matter how reasonable the demands may be) is not my idea of an effective reasonable process.
Union MEMBERS may pay taxes, but UNIONS THEMSEVLES don’t. Are they a church now? I certainly see you preaching in their favor, so maybe I missed out on my indoctrination in your costly religion. Thank goodness.
I volunteer my time as well, I take part in committees too, at my workplace, not because I’m in a union, but because I like having a say in how things work in my organization. Does that mean I can opt out of paying taxes just like UNIONS do More? What is your point?
Bus Drivers may have reasonable demands, but they and their Union are not one in the same.
Bus drivers are people.
Unions are political organizations who don’t pay taxes and have the power to hold people hostage when their demands aren’t met.
The services the MEMBERS of this union provide are certainly important to meet the definition of an essential service.
See that? I can make a distinction between Union MEMBERS and the UNION itself. They are two different things.
Bus drivers don’t have it easy, on a number of different levels, and I support their efforts in negotiating a better life for themselves, as I would for any INDIVIDUAL in this country.
But, not at the cost of 96,000 other people and their ability to do the same.
Perhaps as the last bastion of reasoned thought on here More I’m sure you can point out to me how I am wrong, how I’m an asshole, a jerk, a fucker, whatever it is you call people who don’t agree with your commie inspired fantasy land.
Wilson is a joke. I’ve a friend who’s a driver – the general ATU populace has no confidence in him. They had to bring some guy in from Ontario to help him through the negotiations because he can’t handle them on his own. And now he’s running around from spreading fear but no facts – I wonder who’s pulling the strings on this puppet?
Actually we do have confidence in him maybe said driver just doesn’t. But the majority of the workers I work with have full confidence in him. Next the person that came from “Ontario” is actually from here. When any union goes to negotiations if they are a local who has international presences, the international presence usually sends a person to assist with the locals team. Just so happens that our international presence that was sent is also a local individual that served as ATU local 508s President for a long period of time before being voted as a Canadian director of the ATU and then eventually as International Union VP. So please get your fact straight if we as a membership did not have confidence in Mr Wilson you would not have seen almost 700 members(almost our entire union) show up to vote. They would have also not have taken his advice and voted down the contract and would have asked a heck of a lot of questions while at the vote. No questions asked at an important vote to me shows a united union behind their president!
Thanks for the update but that’s all circumstantial. I would hope the entire membership would show up for a vote as important as this, regardless of who is president. And we really don’t know exactly what was voted down here – HRM’s actual contract offer, or a package of misinformation spun by the union.
There are two sides to this story, the city and the union and both parties have a responsibility to me, their employer on the one hand(my mayor, and councillor) and their customer on the other(the transit union). I want both sides back at the table, negotiating in good faith and maintaining service until a new contract is ratified. If the union has to go on strike in order for the city to pay attention, then I will support them, it is their right! The city is holding everyone hostage as well since, they are part of the process. Oh, don’t forget to call and remind the mayor and your councillor that they are applying for their jobs again this year…
Michael…I mean dartmouthy, remember the NSLC has casual workers, & the Bosses in Control make them serve years before they can get a part time position…just so they don’t have to pay them benefits higher wages etc. Didn’t you know that …you seem to be an expert on everything else particularly Unions…which you are not even a membr of one ! ! ! !
As to monopolies, if they are (NSLC & NS Power) monopolies, they shouldn’t have to pay the top managers the outrageous amounts they do. but NS power CEO earned 1.5 million in bonuses & 695000+ in salary.
Office staff earn between 27000 & 47000 a year…that’s where I got the 100 times figure from. What did he do to deserve that kind of money, paid by all of us in a monopoly ? its like you said, we have no choice for power, so why did 1.5 million dollars have to be paid to him ?
So damn fucking str8 I want the workers who keep the power flowing to be better paid, all he does is suck us dry. He wears a suit & does fuck all !
Unions by the way are not political organizations & the way many Governments work to bust Unions & take away their rights is proof of that, a Union is an organization of workers who band together to secure benefits & rights in the workplace. A Union is a nonprofit organization & has to perform audits to be able to prove that (that means we have to spend the money we take in non taxed , to take care of the running of the Union (aka a business). Unlike churches which sell you a promise to heaven in the future, Unions are taking care of their people today !
As for any Union being an essential service, if this is true, then doesn’t it follow that government shouldn’t be allowed to put workers jobs at risk ?
If it is essential, then those who drive the ferries & access a bus shouldn’t they be kept working seeing as “what they do is an essential service” (your words not mine)
Shouldn’t the professional drivers know they are valued & no one in the city administration is trying to get them fired so a part timer can do their job, a part timer who will have to work another job to make ends meet & in doing so could be tired & that is then a safety hazzard ?
IF they are essential, then you should be freaking out at the cities admin people who are trying their best to derail the system, which while not perfect is ,again according to you, better than no busses at all ?
I think Mr. Murphy you’ve got your priorities screwed, & your pissed off at the wrong group. The city is who you should be screaming at…not the workers who only want to keep their jobs & keep on working/ serving the public..
I decided to read the comments here today and just want to mention some facts about ATU 508. First I plead with my Brothers and Sisters to not getting involved with trying to change the minds of the “haters”, they don’t want to understand, there is nothing you can say to educate the ones who don’t want to be. We are a proud union and have been part of the city for over 104 years, we care about our customers, during the depression the members donated their paycheques back to the employer, who was experiencing financial problems, the workers didn’t want the passengers to be stranded so they did what it took to keep the company a float. Most every picture that you will see of the city in the old days has either a trolly, or a bus that were operated and repaired by ATU members. When our city is in need we understand that but when mismanagement causes such large deficits, why should we the workers wear that? We are not involved nor welcomed to help in any decision making when it comes to service and delivery. Don’t you think if this city was serious about working on the issues of service and delivery that they would atleast have an operator on the Service Advisory Committee? We know the problems that are out there but no one in the postion of authority cares about the opinion of the operators, we want what the public wants, accoutablilty and better services. Keep in mind, we are the faces of Transit and it is us that you holler and get mad at if we are running late, you don’t bother calling the ones who have the power to improve things, you take it out on us.
We have been trying to make a difference in our local and have become a proactive and not a reactive union. When the employer needed help at council to push the new Dartmouth bridge terminal, we were there. When we were told that the seniors had no means of transportation to attend council to discuss cutting their bus, we rented vans and picked them up. When the Dartmouth terminal faced yet another delay, we went and bought winter hats, mittens, and gloves and handed them out to the passengers that had to face another cold winter with no terminal. When our members started talking about how bad bullying has become in their child’s school, we purchased and handed out over 1000 pink anti-bullying t-shirts to our ATU kids. When a member of our family passes away, we rally around the family and donate all food and refreshment that are required for the service, we have purchased memorial badges to wear at a members funeral to honour him/her. We came up with an idea to build a monument at the Ilsley garage, it honours our fallen soldiers and also list all former employees of Metro Transit. Each year we tend and grow a vegatable garden, all the fresh produce is donated to Feed Nova Scotia. It was our member Jim Bartlett that came up with the idea of stuff-a-bus, which has gone viral all across North America. I could go on and on but whats the point, someone will surley find something negative out of the postive things we are proud of. ATU 508 is a proud union and we as union members have nothing to be ashamed of and we will continue to hold our heads high no matter what the outcome is this weekend.
I work for Metro Transit as well. As Jeannie posted, all true, and so much more. I will start by telling you how good unions have been for all the people in North America by implementing services that help each and every one in the workforce. Labour unions are the workers who make work places safe and healthy to work in. Minimum wage, maternity leave, and equal pay for equal work are some of the good things our union forefathers have fought for and earned. I could go on and on but the haters will hate and will not change their minds. The old saying of walk a mile in my shoes does not apply. You have to live the life to be able before you can stand back and criticize. We ,as other union employees, are the workforce that built this country. We are for the people and management is for the money. A true union member will live and die as a true union member.
Jeannie and Shane
Interesting points and I won’t dispute you have reasons to be proud. I’ve had a look at the ATU 508 web site and I take it the two of you are on the executive which means you’re also involved in the bargaining. As you head back to the table tomorrow can I leave you with a couple of thoughts? I have no idea whether or not past mismanagement is the cause of any of the financial difficulties faced by both HRM and Metro Transit. But it’s my understanding that Robar and perhaps others on the staff are new – could it be that he’s been tasked to create a sustainable transit service in light of fiscal realities and that’s why HRM is looking for certain concessions on things that were not well managed in the past? I have my doubts that anyone is trying to take from the workers for the sake of taking and, if transit isn’t sustainable into the future, there’ll be job losses and not job gains.
Centered I can see how you would approach it that way. But one only needs to look at the fact that mgt salarys at MT account for between $6-7 million of the over all budget. Then look at the fact the mr Robar holds the title of director we used to have GMs and I’m sure there was a nice little hefty bump in salary there! Now let’s look at all the money te city wastes on study’s stadium study’s. Acceable transit study just to name a few. You will soon realize that city spends money on things that we really shouldnt instead of making transit function better. I will tell you now that part time drivers and contracting out will only make transit worse then it is now.
Artic
I won’t address your claims about management salaries as I don’t have facts that would permit me to form an opinion either way.
And that’s the crux of the matter here – there’s a distinct lack of information regarding these negotiations, and what’s out there is hardly believable. Wilson claims in this article and others that HRM is looking for 270 changes to the current contract, but he’s only making waves about 2 issues – part timers and contracting out. Does that mean he’s happy with the other 268? Where are the details on those issues? Further, I’ve had a look at the ATU contract on line and I’ve noticed that Metro Transit features a number of departments or divisions. Within the contract, the same language in a lot of cases appears in a number of sections – if management is seeking a change that affects that language, is the union counting that as one change or multiple? Is this a case of double or multiple counting to get to the figure of 270? We just don’t know.
Conspicuously absent here is information regarding the union’s demands – I have my doubts that the union came to the table without any. HRM is not making comment at this time, so we know nothing about the union’s demands or what they will cost the taxpayer.
But with negotiations resuming, I have a feeling that this week will be illuminating.
You can read More, and you read the local paper no less! Congratulations More. If you can read and write, why are you in a union?
I’m not a member of a union by choice More – I am responsible for myself, and I don’t depend on other’s hard work to save for my own retirement and to pay for my benefits.
I’m sorry that communists like you and your “brothers and sisters” wouldn’t understand taking some personal responsibility for yourselves in your life and in your career.
I feel sorry for you and your pathetic brothers and sisters
Good for you Mike.
Its too bad your intelligence is so lacking that you believe society is a group of individuals all doing their own thing, instead of a group of individuals working together for common causes & the good of all.
Never forget sir in only doing/keeping with the average…is what keeps the average down. Putting more & more people on part time/minimum wages can only harm Nova Scotia, not help it.
Haters like yourself who are so brainwashed you believe Unions are communist organizations . Shows the rest of us just how out of touch with reality you really are. Every Union is better off from not having persons such as yourself in their membership.
Have a nice day.
They get paid $60,000 an year to bring out a really bad service? I hope the government issues a back to work order on Thursday. If not this will be a election issue
Out of touch from Communism More?
Yes most definitely.
Brain washing works both ways “comrade”
Bus drivers are :
1 – GREEDY
2 – SELFISH
3 – SELF CENTERED
4 – Making over $50,000 a year and screwing workers making $20,000 a year
Read the ATU contract here :
http://applications.atucanada.ca/content_R…
Scroll down to ARTICLE 42 Pick Run System (page 41) The drivers pick a route according tom seniority and this ancient system is a nightmare to manage and requires extra staff.
Now scroll down to ARTICLE 46 – Overtime. Overtime is given according to seniority.
Bottom line : Bus drivers are milking the taxpayers using seniority to mess around with the schedule and overtime. Metro transit should publish a no names list of the earnings of the 25 most senior bus drivers.
ATU overtime 88% over budget in 2010-2011 for “Service Delivery”
Budget – $2,289,493
Actual – $4,310,119
source : http://www.halifax.ca/budget/documents/20.… see page 132
ATU Ferry Overtime 80% over budget 2010-2011
Budget – $147,084
Actual – $265,314
source : http://www.halifax.ca/budget/documents/20.… see page 135
a schedule that requires this much overtime is a schedule made by someone who quite clearly has no idea what they’re doing. the staff don’t make the schedule, they only sign up to fill it. it seems to me that your anger is misdirected.
i’m reading your arguments, but they don’t make the point you think they’re making. not to me at least. for example. you keep pointing out how much they make, stressing that you feel they’re crooks and i look at the figure and think to myself “yeah, but you could still barely feed a family, and still save a little something, on that.” or “yeah, but a management position pays a lot more and i don’t notice you a properly proportional amount more upset about that. seems like a lot of feigned outrage…”.
you might greedy, self-centred and selfish and quite naturally think everyone is like you. trust me: some are, but not every person is like you. you would do us all a favour to remind yourself of that every so often.
we already know peter kelly is a douchebag and looking to divert attention away from his pecadillos. a fight with a public sector union – greedy, lazy, selfish, self-centred public sector unions! as you so colourfully described- is the perfect cover. MT management can’t fix GoTime with a decade and a few million, when a high school computer class could do it in a month, probably even with no funding. i have ZERO confidence in the mayor or MT mgmt to do anything right. i ride the bus a lot. all the drivers i’ve met have been nothing but professional. some have gone beyond the call of duty to give me a level of service i didn’t expect. seems to me that most of them like their jobs. by contrast, i’ve watched them take nothing but shit from 90% of the other passengers that interact with them. people routinely try to mess with them even with all the cameras and shit they have nowadays. and now you come along… yes they applied for it, but it’s still a tough job. thankless really. look at your own comments. it seems to me that such an overwhelming vote in favour to strike in undeniable. your personal feeling that the union and the drivers are different entities is an argument that just doesn’t hold water, not in this instance at least. the drivers seem pretty unified so i’m totally behind them. i’d rather see the mayor lose his job.