The Year of Transit: A ReView from the Bus

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... That line from A Tale of Two Cities seems apt to describe this year of Guelph Transit news. There seemed to be a renewed focus and urgency on improving Transit services, but the results seemed to leave a lot to be desired according to the people on the ground, or in the bus.

New Transit Contract Ratified, Both Sides Have Eye on the Future

After being ratified at City Council last week, members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 did their share and ratified the new collective agreement on their end, and thus securing labour piece between the City of Guelph and its transit employees. Now's the part where we learn the details.

PRESS RELEASE - Guelph Transit Gets Their Concessions

This story broke just before Christmas, an inordinately busy time under the best of circumstances, but it's an important story just the same given the events of 2014. Following up to the agreement reached last summer between the City of Guelph and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189, Guelph Transit workers now have their linchroom at Guelph Central Station, and continuous access to washrooms at the University Centre (even when it's closed). Not for nothing, but was that so hard, City of Guelph?

EDITORIAL - Council Leadership Pitiful During Lockout

Since last Friday, Guelphites from Watson Parkway to Elmira Road, from Woodlawn to Claire, have all enjoyed the renewed freedom of movement and cost efficiency of riding Guelph Transit. Both the Guelph City Council and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 moved quickly last Tuesday to ratify the negotiated agreement, and city hall offered a small token of peace to transit users by making buses free for a week. So to quote the song from a popular animated movie, "Everything is Awesome," right?

Well let's ask Ray Sheppard, who had to spend $50 in cab fare per day to get to and from work. Or Jackie Mahony, who spend $40 in cabs everyday to visit loved ones in the hospital. Or personal support worker June Loughed who put $400 in the coffers of Canadian Cab, Red Top and Guelph Taxi. Jonathan Ridgeway doesn't think it's awesome, as he had to shell out cab fare so that his employees could make it to work to assist fewer customers, since walk-in traffic took a hit with fewer than normal people moving around. Poor Ryan Fowler wishes his boss was altruistic enough to give out cab fare, he lost his job when the two hour walk to and from work proved cumbersome.

Those were the five people featured in the Guelph Tribune's weekly streeter and asked the question how they coped with the transit lockout. I have a feeling that these five are a small sample of the thousands who had similar struggles for nearly three weeks in the Royal City when the sour negotiations with transit workers took an even more sour turn with the threat, revoking and implementation of the lockout. The question is though, will Ray, Jackie, June, Jonathan and Ryan make city council pay for it at the ballot box on October 27? I don't know if they will, but I can think of a compelling case why they should think about it.

Guelph Transit Back Friday; ATU & City Both Ratify Agreement

August 8 has always been a politically significant day, in 1942 it was the start of the Quiet India movement, in 1974 it was the day that Richard Nixon announced he was stepping down from the presidency, and in 1990 it was the day that Iraq invaded Kuwait, setting off a series of events that would lead to the Gulf War. Now August 8 is the date when the Guelph Transit lockout ended and the buses will start rolling out onto city roads once more. The City of Guelph and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 have both ratified a new contract and service will be restored once schedules are made and the bus fleet is inspected, which should be Friday at the earliest. What's in the agreement, and what's next for riders? Read on...

UPDATE: City & Union Voting on Agreement Tuesday; Buses Could Be Back Friday

For the TL;DR set, both the Guelph City Council and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 will be voting Tuesday to ratify the tentative agreement reached late last night. If it's passed by both parties, City of Guelph buses could be back on the road as early as Friday allowing for at least two days for inspection of the vehicles and for transit services to make sure all routes and positions are properly scheduled.

Lockout Update from City: We're Ready to Believe You

After a week of silence on the transit lockout, Guelph City Hall issued two press releases on Friday (take out the trash day). I guess they didn't want the week to close without letting those transit users they've abandoned know that they were being thought of. I guess. The "we'll talk when they talk" brinkmanship of the situation is testing the patience of transit users that depend on the service to get back and forth to their jobs, businesses that depend on workers and/or customers who use transit, and even members of the community who have no skin in the game but are further convinced now that city hall has no idea what it's doing. So what do the powers that be have to say about the situation one week later?

Council Candidate Wants to Rally Riders

Instantaneously showing more leadership than many of the people already on city council, Ward 6 candidate Keith Poore is organizing a rally meant to encourage both sides of the transit lockout - the City of Guelph and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 - to get back to the negotiating table so that 14,000 daily transit users can get back on their bus.

VIDEO - The Lockout From the Union POV

The mood outside city hall at 1 Carden Street was oddly cordial. No one was shouting words of scorn at the drivers, not one was playing the blame game, and the general public - whether they be walking or driving by - offered words, or honks, of support. That's life in the cat bird seat. Even though it was their vote to reject the city's offer that sparked the lockout, the members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 seem to be holding the high ground. But as the anger settles, and people start to seriously ask the question, why the heck did the union reject the deal in the first place?

Lockout Back On as Union Rejects New Deal

Here we go again. Another Sunday night and another lockout as the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 has rejected the tentative agreement reached between the City of Guelph and the union executive last Sunday that staved off the pending job action. It turns out though that it just delayed the inevitable. The union voted to ratify the agreement today, but the terms of the new deal were rejected, "forcing" the City to move ahead with its lockout plans. The news comes at the last minute for any commuters that need to make alternative arrangements, meanwhile, city officials are predicting that this lockout could last all summer long.

City Votes Quick to Ratify Deal After Transit Lockout Averted

How many of you woke up this morning, left home, started making your way to wherever you were going on foot or bike, and then you saw it: a Guelph Transit bus. Even though many of the service interruption signs were still up this morning, the buses were back on the road as if nothing had ever happened on the weekend; the city and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1189 made an after-the-last-minute deal to keep the service running. After a marathon negotiation session Sunday, a tentative agreement was reached, and tonight, city council did it's part by ratifying said agreement on their end.

Transit Lockout: A More Considered Opinion

UPDATE - 12:30 am, MONDAY - The Guelph Transit lockout has been averted with a tentative deal reached between the City and the Union. Read more here, but basically, it's business as usual tomorrow morning. BUSES WILL BE RUNNING AS SCHEDULED. More details to follow...

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Hearing that the 205 Guelph Transit Employees had voted 94 per cent against the city's "final offer" Friday night, and the response by the city to lock them out prompted a perfectly visceral response from me.

It's official. My vote this fall is to candidates who pledge to privatize @guelphtransit. No one at City Hall gives a damn about users.
— Adam A. Donaldson (@adamadonaldson) July 12, 2014

I then got into something of a Twitter tiff with someone about the validity of my outburst, and you know what, he was right. Somewhat. In my deference to @bkmunn, I realized that hyperbole wasn't the answer, and after the Guelph Citizen's Andy Best paid me a great compliment about my reporting on this issue yesterday, I further realized that in this discussion, someone has to keep a cool head. So I will.

LOCKOUT

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.

Transit Vs City: What are They Fighting For?

Today, the 200 some odd employees of Guelph Transit vote on a deal offered by the City of Guelph - their final offer. If the deal is voted down, it doesn't necessarily mean that there will be no bus service Saturday, but it might, which makes the vote today critical for the hundreds and hundreds of people that depend on the city's bus system to get around. Somewhat secondary is the undercurrent of animosity from the two sides, which has been in no way helped by this very adversarial negotiation process, and will unlikely be helped by a press release sent out by the city yesterday.

Final Vote in Transit Negotiations Set for Friday

As reported last week, city negotiators have made their final offer to the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1189, the union that represents Guelph Transit workers, all that was left was for the union to vote on the agreement. The city sent out a release today saying that the union members will be voting on that agreement later this week, with results to be announced after voting concludes later that same day. The outcome of the vote will determine whether or not there will be service interruption if the city locks out the workers, or if the transit union decides to go on strike.

City Makes "Final Offer" to Transit Union

Things look bleak for those hoping to avoiding some kind of work stoppage involving Guelph Transit, be it a strike or a lockout. A new press release from City Hall today says that Guelph has extended its last offer to the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1189, and a vote on the part of over 200 Guelph Transit employees will determine whether or not the union strikes, or the City will lock them out. For the embattled unionized workers of Guelph Transit, there's a handful of bad options in front of them, but for the City of Guelph, and more importantly the members of city council looking to get re-elected, no one wants a city service to fall to job action in the middle of an election year.