Ending the Fourth Week in the Transit Strike
Here we are on day 26 of the transit strike in York Region, soon to reach the end of the fourth week and after that the strike’s one-month anniversary. There’s been a number of important events in the last few days:
- On Wednesday morning members of ATU Local 113 picketed in Vaughan outside one of the bus yards. According to the Region, strikers were delaying each bus by five minutes, extending riders’ commute by up to an hour or more.
- Also on Wednesday York Region CEO Bill Fisch sent a letter to the union locals and the contractors urging them to
act in good faith
and work towards a resolution to the strike. In addition, the Region released a letter from Miller Transit (PDF link) containing what it claims are some of Local 1587‘s demands, among them a 16% raise this year. - On Thursday morning union members rallied outside York Region headquarters where a scheduled Council meeting was held. John Cartwright, president of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, addressed the regional council. Larry Hanley, president of Amalgamated Transit Union International, was also in attendance, in addition to the president of each of the striking locals.
Despite all of this, in practical terms little has changed since the start of the week.
Did I get it right?
On Monday I made a couple of predictions about what we’d see this week. Unfortunately, I think we can safely say I was wrong on both counts.
The government did not continue to wait for the union to come around as I’d thought. Instead, it took action by sending Bill Fisch’s letter and, perhaps more importantly, by releasing the letter from Miller Transit. If the contents of Miller’s letter are true, it is hard to for me to see the union’s demands as reasonable.
But at the same time, the union seems just as far away from settling as it ever was. It did not reveal any new strategy (of which I’m aware) this week, instead continuing its call for contractors to agree to binding arbitration. I haven’t noticed the anti-privatization cry getting any louder either.
Next week
Next week marks the beginning of the fifth week of the strike and, on Thursday, its one-month anniversary. Starting Monday I’ll be back to my usual posting schedule and will have more to say about this week’s events.
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