Word came down about an hour ago that members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1189 have rejected the City of Guelph's "final offer" and city staff is moving to lockout Guelph Transit as of Monday. Hope no one that depends on the bus to go to work, school, doctor's appoints or shopping minds.
Guelph, ON, July 11, 2014—Today, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1189 members voted to reject the City of Guelph’s final contract offer.
The City believes it has exhausted all traditional negotiation options and, with the support of Guelph City Council, made the difficult decision to lock out the 205 members of ATU Local 1189 and suspend traditional Guelph Transit service as of 12:01 a.m. July 14. Guelph Transit Mobility Service for pre-booked medical appointments will continue during the labour disruption.
On Saturday, July 12, media representatives are invited to hear comments from Mayor Karen Farbridge and Chief Administrative Officer Ann Pappert explaining the reasons behind the City’s decision.
Sadly, in a weird fluke of fate, I'll be working a rare Saturday morning shift at my day job, so I won't be able to be there. If you're worried about not being able to get where you want to go, I encourage concerned Guelphites to go down to city hall tomorrow and make your voice heard.
In an interesting side note, the last time the possibility of a Guelph Transit work stoppage reared its ugly head was in 2007. I covered it for thecannon.ca and a deal was reached last minute after a strike deadline was pushed back a day so that a provincial mediator could help both sides reach a deal. Not to get your hopes up or anything. It's also worth pointing out that this happened in February 2007, as in during the school year. Obviously the tremendous lobby that is the University of Guelph student users of transit can't be used as leverage in July.
Look for updates here or on my Twitter feed as news about the lockout breaks.
Posts
4 comments:
Who's been driving the buses everyday for more than a year with no contract? The drivers never intended to disrupt the transit service. Never.
Who's been telling that they don't wish for any service disruption every chance they got? City Officials who say they didn't want to lock out transit but they had yellow info posts printed weeks in advance to put at bus stops to inform the public that the transit service is stopped for an undetermined time. They had their speeches for the media all prepared well in advance and funny thing, there were no transfer booklets ordered for next week or for the rest of the Summer.
Our city officials knew what they intended to do and they did it.
the city is so stupid! how the hell are people suppose to get to work??/ theyll take away the public tansit and then say to everyone fend for yourselfs! thanks guelph you guys suck!
There actually are still lots of university students in Guelph now, whether attending classes/taking them online or just living here now and use the transit system. There has been much discussion and outrage on pages such as Overheard @ Guleph on Facebook.
It still affects a crap ton of the city, as many people take the bus to work or to go shopping (especially seniors who may not be able to drive themselves anymore). It's gunna suck. I had to ask my work let me start work an hour early so I could get a ride with someone and not have to wait an hour until I work. Would be nice to know how long its gunna last, too...
its to bad that we allow the city of Guelph to look so bad the city has shown they really don,t know what they are doing to let the buses not run for one day is so unfair to the people after all they get there HIGH PAY CHECKS AND DON,T CARE ABOUT US remember this when we vote LETS GET RID OF THE MAYOR AND ANY OTHER DEAD BEATS bring in someone that knows what they are doing and make Guelph a good place again
Post a Comment