The union representing GO Transit bus drivers and ticket agents says a strike is inevitable after its members rejected a tentative deal that would have avoided job action and potential commuting chaos.
Dennis Tanham, the president of Local 1587 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said a meeting today with GO Transit officials ended in a stalemate after the company indicated it could not improve on its last offer. “They informed us that there was no more money and we’d have to do what we’d have to do,” he said.
Asked if a strike is inevitable, Mr. Tanham said: “I believe it is, yes ... I’m hoping that it won’t come during Christmas, but that’s up to the board.”
He said the union’s nine-member executive board will meet tomorrow to discuss what kind of job action to take and when it will begin. Peter Smith, the chairman of GO Transit, said the company has asked the union to give them 48 hours notice before any job action so that commuters can make alternae transportation plans.
“Job actions are a real possibility,” Mr. Smith said in a statement, “but we are waiting for the union to give us notice of their intent.”
GO Transit and the union had reached a tentative agreement this month that appeared to have averted a strike. Details of the contract deal were not made public, but although the union executive recommended it, the nearly 1,200 rank-and-file members of the union voted 69% to reject the agreement.
Wages and job security were key issues in the dispute.
The union has been without a contract since last June and has been in a legal strike position since Dec. 3.
While any job action would not have directly affect GO train operators, union officials have said the striking workers could set up pickets at GO Transit stations and disrupt service.
GO Transit moves about 165,000 commuters every day, with its 1,800 buses transporting about 30,000 passengers, about 75% of them to and from Toronto.
— Story by Chris Wattie. Photo of a GO Transit bus on Highway 404 by Tyler Anderson, National Post
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