TRANSIT UNION REJECTS OFFER TO END LOCKOUT

To try and bring the lockout to an end, the City has taken the bold step of offering a plan to the Transit union.  We remain far apart in our contract talks with the Transit union; ATU’s last proposal is for a 19% wage increase over four years.

“Even with an experienced mediator like Vince Ready taking part, the parties are still nowhere near a proposal that the City would consider fair to our other unions, citizens and taxpayers,” says Jeff Jorgenson, General Manager of Transportation & Utilities.

So, in an effort to reduce the impact of the current labour dispute, the City offered the transit union three requirements to lift the lockout:

1. The City and the Amalgamated Transit Union, 615 both agree to no further lock out or strike action until there is a contract.
2. The Transit union must agree with the pension changes that they already agreed to in December 2013 and recently enacted by City Council.
3. It must withdraw the Labour Relations Board application which challenges the legality of the lockout.

“Instead, the ATU leadership did not respond to the City’s olive branch; we expected a response,” Jorgenson says. “It was a serious offer to resolve the current situation and there was silence.”

“People want their bus service back: this is a way to do that,” he says.  “It’s time to move forward,  time to get past arguing technicalities, time to get Transit workers back on the job and get Saskatoon moving again.”

Jorgenson says after all its options to reach a contract had run out, the City chose to lock out to put pressure on Transit while the weather was still reasonable.

 “Union leadership had a green light to strike; we were concerned the union would walk off the job in the dead of winter,” Jorgenson says.  “Now with the union leadership rejecting this solution, it means more of the same for transit riders who want bus service and transit staff who want to go back to work.”

Jorgenson says despite another offer and setback, his team will continue to work with union leadership to get our Transit workers back in the shop and on the road with a wage and pension package that is fair for all.  “We saw this as a great opportunity to clean the slate and start a new beginning for Saskatoon Transit,” he says.  “We remain committed to finding a deal that gets everyone on board.”

Eight of the nine unions/associations in the General Pension Plan have accepted a 10% deal over four years as well as increased contributions and changes to the General Pension Plan.  This is the same offer presented to the ATU, 615.

On September 20, 2014 the Transit union proposed a 22.25 % increase over five years.

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