3913 Rebuttal: Negotiations About Giving Power Back to Members Says Union Prez

Following up on today's new Guelph Politicast, I talked to the Canadian Union of Public Employees local 3913 about the negotiations with CUPE 1281 from their point of view, and what they're goals are so far as the difficulties in reaching an agreement.

CUPE Negotiations with the City Hit a Snag

A quick but ominous press release was fired off from City Hall late today saying that the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) locals 241, 973 and 1946 have requested a "no board" report be filed with the Ontario Labour Relations Board. It means that the parties involved are basically not close to making a deal, but more ominously, it starts a three week countdown to potential job action.

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?

Top 10 Local/Provincial Stories of 2014

In completing the two-part Top 10 list of the year's biggest political/news stories, we turn to the local scene and recount the doings that had us talking locally and provincially throughout 2014. We had back-to-back elections where no matter the side you were on, they both might have had surprising results. Court matters took up a good portion of the year as both the city and a young campaign worker had their days in front of a judge. We also said goodbye to a number of politicians leaving office (or who announced that they were leaving office in the future), we said hello to new people and new circumstances, and we all reveled, or were repelled by some damn, dirty campaigning. It was a year of great change to be sure. This was the year 2014, locally and provincially, at least according to me.

Guthrie Leads Farbridge in Forum Poll

It must be an election because we now have polling data. In a Forum Poll released Tuesday looking at the Guelph Mayoral race, it seems as if current mayor, Karen Farbridge, had best be prepared to look for new work on October 28. Of course, this poll comes fairly early in the (real) campaign, and we all know the unreliability of polling in the last couple of years, but is it an indication that Farbridge may come up short for a fourth term in office, and that Cam Guthrie's gambit to trade his Ward 4 seat for the mayor's chain will work out?

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.

City & ATU Reach Tentative Agreement; Bus Service to be Restored After Ratification

As the lockout of Guelph Transit nears the end of its second week, there's a sign of hope that this time next week we may be able to get back on the buses again. Word came in late last night that the City of Guelph and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 have reached a tentative agreement. The key point is that this means there's no immediate end to the lockout. The ATU members will vote this coming Thursday, August 7, and if they vote to ratify, council will hold a special meeting to vote it through on their end. Meeting day and time to confirmed soon. Now the question is, for the union, will the third time be the charm?

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?

Transit Lockout: Official Responses

This morning, I sent an e-mail to all 13 members of city council, as well as Chief Administrative Officer Ann Pappert and Director of Corporate and Human Resources Mark Amorosi asking them to respond to two simple questions: Why is the lockout necessary, and what are you going to do to make sure that everyone who needs the transit system to go about their daily affairs will experience the minimum of inconvenience? As each individual responds, I will update this post.

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.

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...

===============================

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.

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.