Winnipeg Transit will strike before the end of August. Yay or Nay?

[Only The Lonely..]

So, what are your thoughts on the pending transit strike? And how adversely will it affect ridership?

Are any of you are old enough to remember the '76 strike?

[1ajs]

well riding the bus the last couple days and hearing the drivers talking it sure sounds like it but thus is the unions faul for not listening to the drivers in the first place...

[viperred88]

they won't strike they got a fair size raise and the sunday issue seems to have subsided.

I am out on vacation by wednesday so I will miss some of it, if it happens.
If I were them I would vote to strike they have enough garbage hours as it is.

[Only The Lonely..]

From the '76 strike...

[Kinguni]

It's going to be a close vote. The majority of the bus operators have now been hired during or after the Susan Thompson years when drivers took cuts and went without raises to help the city out. They haven't been paid back for that yet and there is a great feeling of inequity between senior and junior drivers. I predict a slim majority voting in favour with a large turnout, but I was wrong on the last vote. Currently the one thing that would sway the vote to a definite yes would be if the City removed their Sunday hours of work issue which will go to binding arbitration if the members accept this contract.

Regardless of which way the vote goes, the city's CAO has promised to address working conditions, and has already started, but with so much distrust of management among drivers many are not willing to believe he will follow through. Few of the City's past promises have been followed through.

At that, while the wage increases are OK, they are not equal for all drivers and certainly below inflation rates. If the contract does pass but the City does not follow through on it's commitments then look out for next time. There will be a lot of angry bus drivers.

[Only The Lonely..]

Their hourly rate does seem a bit low.

[DowntownWpg]

Building on this, the current offer on the table is as follows (from the Freep):

"The wage offer over three years is only two per cent, 2.2 per cent, and 3 per cent -- in comparison to the recently posted inflation rate of 2.4 per cent -- and is below the amount won by most provincial government employees in their last contract negotiations."
Full Article

I just can't understand how the union could recommended to its members to accept this offer by the city. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not someone who would wholeheartedly support any union blindly. In this case though, I do hope that the drivers and support workers are able to get a better deal - even if it means a potential strike.

I say this because Wpg Transit, from what I understand, has experienced much recruiting difficulty in the past several years. If Winnipeg has any real desire to enhance transit, and take it into the 21st century (properly), a strong employee base is essential. IMO, this comes about by a competitive wage being the catalyst for both recruitment and retainment.

[vid]

All transit has had difficulties recruiting new drivers. The TTC is having a hell of a time. Unlike Winnipeg, there is a good amount of competition around it for transit drivers and the outer suburbs "don't have creeps and weirdos" and "are safer". Drivers here complain about the scheduling system. The city is trying to cram 80 minutes trips into an hour and that's just too much stress for the drivers, especially when they get disciplined for an error that administration is making.

[Only The Lonely..]

What does it cost to ride the bus in Thunder Bay, out of curiosity?

[vid]

2.35$ for everyone, children 8 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. (I think they define adult as anyone who pays to get on, though.) Bus passes are 31$ for 20 rides, 57$ for a monthly discount pass (for students, seniors, disabled people, etc.) and 67$ for a regular monthly pass. It's among the lowest in Ontario.

[Only The Lonely..]

Originally Posted by vid

2.35$ for everyone, children 8 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. (I think they define adult as anyone who pays to get on, though.) Bus passes are 31$ for 20 rides, 57$ for a monthly discount pass (for students, seniors, disabled people, etc.) and 67$ for a regular monthly pass. It's among the lowest in Ontario.

And, what's the service like in terms of the average wait between buses on the most popular routes?

[vid]

On 3 Memorial, which goes between both downtowns and by our largest mall and Intercity (big box stores) and west on each main east-west street in each end of town, the frequency is 15 minutes weekdays between 6am and 6pm, and on Saturday between 10am and 6pm. Service in the early evening on Monday to Saturday is 20 minutes until about 9 then 40 minutes, but every second bus is an extra that doesn't run if they don't have enough drivers. Sunday is 40 minutes all day.

1 Mainline runs parallel to 3 Memorial between the downtowns, averaging 2 blocks east. It runs every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturday daytime, 40 minutes in evenings and Sundays, but during weekday later afternoons/early evenings they run two buses at a time, and on Sunday in midday they run every 20 minutes or two buses at a time. Like Memorial, every second bus is dependant on there being enough drivers.

There are buses at the downtown terminals every 15 minutes during peak hours and every 40 during off peak (except route 2 Crosstown, which is 20 minutes behind the schedule at Brodie due to the length of the route) . Confederation College has a bus every five minutes (except at :25, and :55 iirc) on routes 2 (every 15 minutes), 3 (between the college and Brodie, every 30 minutes) and 8 (every 30 minutes). They all arrive at different times, so they're spread out on the clock. That's the most frequent bus service. The University has four buses running in two directions every 30 minutes during peak service, with a 5th route near by, and you have to transfer from there to get to Brodie.

Least frequent is bush routes, they run four times a day on two days a week to rural (very rural--"not even farms" rural) areas and have almost 0 ridership. They'll likely be cancelled after their 6 month trial period is over. (In 2 months for route 5 and about 3.5 months for route 19).

Aside from not having enough buses on route 1, crowded buses on 1 and 3, poor service to the university and a difficult schedule to meet, the system isn't too bad. Better than some in similar sized cities. In a University of Calgary study of mid-sized city transit, Thunder Bay was the only one that wasn't considering express transit and was considering dropping routes, but since then we've added two routes and demand for transit has increased, sparking a bit of demand for faster transit between the cores that should bring positive changes soon.

Somewhat on topic: Our transit almost went on strike in 2005, I think, and their current contract expires this time next year.

[viperred88]

Originally Posted by DowntownWpg

Building on this, the current offer on the table is as follows (from the Freep):

"The wage offer over three years is only two per cent, 2.2 per cent, and 3 per cent -- in comparison to the recently posted inflation rate of 2.4 per cent -- and is below the amount won by most provincial government employees in their last contract negotiations."
Full Article

I just can't understand how the union could recommended to its members to accept this offer by the city. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not someone who would wholeheartedly support any union blindly. In this case though, I do hope that the drivers and support workers are able to get a better deal - even if it means a potential strike.

I say this because Wpg Transit, from what I understand, has experienced much recruiting difficulty in the past several years. If Winnipeg has any real desire to enhance transit, and take it into the 21st century (properly), a strong employee base is essential. IMO, this comes about by a competitive wage being the catalyst for both recruitment and retainment.

I hope I am wrong but I think the union leader is leaving this job soon for another. If thats the case he don't really care.

[Kinguni]

Originally Posted by viperred88

I hope I am wrong but I think the union leader is leaving this job soon for another. If thats the case he don't really care.

I believe he intends to retire after his current term is over. He probably cares too much, but is only 1 of 9 votes on the union's executive.

[1ajs]

57% accepted the contract!! according to ctv news

[JayM]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

57% accepted the contract!! according to ctv news

yeah thank god.

[Only The Lonely..]

Transit strike averted

Updated: August 20 at 06:34 PM CDT | Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeggers can breathe a sigh of relief now that transit workers accepted a contract and will not go on strike.

Results of the voting that closed at 4 p.m. show 57 per cent of bus drivers and maintenance personnel accepted the contract and 43 per cent rejected it.

ATU members voted on a contract agreed to by union leaders and city managers July 31. City council approved the deal Aug. 6.

Union members held a meeting Aug. 10 to go over the contract, which called for wage increases through 2010 and sent the contentious issue of Sunday work to a provincial arbitrator.

The deal also called for a joint committee of union members and transit managers to work out other union grievances, largely to do with work schedules.

Union leaders saw the deal as "reasonable," said Rick Hirt, the union local's Financial Secretary Treasurer, and were urging members to accept it rather than go on strike.

"A strike doesn't serve purposes for anybody if you can work on conditions and improve them," Hirt said.

Bus service will run as scheduled tonight and tomorrow.