Council still determined to find fair resolution to strike
We are very disappointed that talks have ended once more with ATU 279.
We believe that our offer was both fair and reasonable. It is quite astonishing in these harsh economic times that an offer of 7.25% over three years and the means to allow OC Transpo to become a more efficient bus system is being turned down.
I hear the heartbreaking stories from members of our community as they deal with this difficult situation. It is time to double our efforts to find a fair and reasonable solution that protects the long-term sustainability of our transit service and brings the buses back as quickly as possible.
The negotiating team has been asked to work through the weekend to review the union’s latest demands and present a detailed update for Council to consider at our meeting on Monday, January 26.
I would also like you to send me your thoughts on the strike and make sure to send your views to members of Council as well.
What are your thoughts on the issues of work-rest rules for example?
There is more then enough scientific evidence supporting the claim that being awake for 18 hours produces motor skill and mental skill deterioration equivalent to an intoxication level of .05. This level of intoxication is high enough to have a driver’s license temporarily suspended in Ontario. The current scheduling rules in the collective agreement contravene the safety regulations for transportation workers in Canada.
Because of a gap in federal and provincial regulations, OC Transpo is exempt from safety rules that limit the amount of time someone can work without sleep.
The guidelines are simple: a maximum workday of 14 hours, a minimum rest period of 8 hours between shifts and at least one full day of rest every two weeks.
Of the 60,000 commercial transportation companies in Canada only Ottawa, Gatineau and Windsor are exempt from safety rules that limit the amount of time someone can work without sleep. Your Council is obligated to ensure the safety of the community. Safety is our number one responsibility.
Here is an example: Currently ATU members can schedule back-to-back 11-hour shifts on a Saturday or a Sunday and there is nothing management can do to stop it. This is dangerous.
Your Mayor will not compromise on the issue of safety in our community.
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Mr. Mayor.
50 days or 500 days -do NOT capitulate to the demands of the ATU. To add more demands to the mediation process shows just how little respect they have for their ridership. You must not give in as you have too many other negotiations coming up with other unions and signs of weakness now will end up have dire consequences.
Stay the course.
Stick to the numbers you have offered!
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Stay the course. Should the drivers receive 1 penny over the last offer, I will feel like I sacrificed for nothing. Seriously. Do not make us look like fools.
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Mr.Mayor,
I am no longer on the side of the city or the union for that matter. This has been 45 days and no transit service in the capital city of Canada. This is absolutely ridiculous. And in my opinion, the ballot box is coming once again in the near future and cannot in my opinion vote for such an incompetent city council. GET THIS DONE NOW!! Many people are walking hours to get to work so that they can make ends meet. Meanwhile, you and the rest of council have cars to drive you to your work places. UNBELIEVABLE!!
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:33 pm
I totally agree with the council’s current position. Council should NOT back down. Eventually the ATU will starve and accept the city’s last offer.
I completely support the city’s point of view.
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:43 pm
To quote youi Larry, “being awake for 18 hours produces motor skill and mental skill deterioration equivalent to an intoxication level of .05″.
I could not agree with you more
I would like to point out that I do not live in a bus garage.
I need to get to and from work. I need to eat. I need to shower.
Asking that I work a spread of 13.5 hours is asking that I be awake and with out lesure for longer than I feel is safe.
Please drop this request from the contract Larry. It is unsafe.
My children have a right to know there father. I have a right to know my children.
You cannot in good faith make this request. It is absurd.
I understand your need to minimize the short 6 shifts. Those where drivers are being paid 6 hours and driving 4.5. I have no problem with you fixing my AM and PM peices.
BUT YOU CAN NOT ASK ME TO WORK A 13.5 HOUR SPREAD WITH 7 HOURS PAY.
Drop this request, please.
January 24th, 2009 at 7:38 am
The current scheduling rules in the collective agreement contravene the safety regulations for transportation workers in Canada.
Of the 60,000 commercial transportation companies in Canada only Ottawa, Gatineau and Windsor are exempt from safety rules that limit the amount of time someone can work without sleep.
By this admission, The collective agreement doesn’t contrevene any safety rules. In fact, most of the additional hours drivers work are caused by Management themselves asking the drivers to work extra time to fill in for missing busses, inclement weather, charter work, etc etc……… If this was not done by drivers many Citizens would be unasble to make their way around the city in a timely fashion.
January 24th, 2009 at 8:41 am
When it come to the scheduling and booking of work for the OC Transpo drivers - the senior drivers get to pick and choose what they want - and the remaining shifts are left for the “lower level - less senior” drivers to fight over! What a shamfule systme this is - and our Mayor and our Council are absolutely correct that it is also a safety issue! Does anyone want to be driven around by a bus driver who has been awake for say 26 hours in any 32 hour period? I surely don’t, and I don’t want that RISK for any of my family or friends either.
The bottom line is this: In any business the workers need to abide by schedules and working hours that are set byManagement and if these drivers do not agree - then they can start looking for other work!
Stick to your guns on this Larry and Alain Merier - and all Council - we can no longer afford the extreme high costs associated with this Union - and we will not accept that the safety of the riders is compromised as well - by the GREED of the minority of these Union members!
I say - DO NOT SETTLE - and eventually PRIVATIZE our City bus system! It is tme for that.
January 24th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Mr O’Brien and Council,
You have waited and played enough with the citizens of Ottawa.
It is time for you to stop putting up this type of information on your site. As we do not feel that these issues you are trying very hard to convince us of, and that YOU think important, does not really affect us the way you would want it to.
All we want after 46 days is our normal lives and transit service returned to us.
The scheduling should be dealt with separately.
Do the right thing: BRING BACK THE TRANSIT SERVICE NOW!
January 24th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Hi:
Safety is always paramount and is a factor that has had many Ottawa citizen’s increasingly more concerned over the past few years. At time, drivers were noticeably fatigued. At other times, some would brag about the number of lengthy shifts he/she had worked….this did make me nervous.
I do not understand how giving them control over scheduling helped lift up their morale. Give me my way or I will be unhappy is no way to deal with business.
Should we not stop sending buses into Quebec; hence, we would be under Provincial Jurisdiction….nothing is perfect, but this mess that we have now is truly unforgivable.
I will definitely be less reliant on Public Transit whenever possible as they have had too many strike threats and strikes for my appetite.
I will never forget the pain of this strike, but in time I will have to deal with the forgiveness.
SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT.
January 24th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Mr. Mayor,
I agree and support your position. I believe that the time has come to take some drastic action including hiring replacement workers.
John Mitchell
January 24th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Your honour just one thought:
CRUSH THIS BUS UNION.
Period.
No matter how long and arduous..please just do it.
January 24th, 2009 at 10:15 am
I am seriously concerned about the OCTranspo strike. I feel that the situation has been unnecessarily aggravated by the personalities of the City officials in direct contact with the union, and that on the City side, all further discussions should be held by negotiators with a speciality in that area.
I feel that these new negotiators should offer this resolution to the Union. The same as the city’s previous offer, except that :
- The scheduling system would be left as was before the strike, except that operators will no longer be allowed to choose shifts that contravene the federal safety provisions you mentioned. Discussions on the scheduling system for the next contract period should begin as soon as the fact-finding report is available.
- The $2,500 productivity bonus would be removed.
Hopefully the union will accept this offer. If they do not, I’d suggest that you ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to designate as an essential service a minimal backbone of the system - for example routes 95, 97, 101, and 106 (to serve the downtown and major hospitals)
January 24th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I agree with ensuring the safety of the citizens of Ottawa by enforcing safe working hours. I would like to tell you why! I was on the 95 eastbound on the Queensway last year and heading towards Orleans. I was sitting across from the driver and could see that he was actually struggling to stay awake…and he had a full load of passengers and travelling at least 80km. I wasn’t sure if I should get up and speak to him to help him stay awake or if that would just make it worse by distracting him. Fortunately, he managed to stay awake!! When I got off the bus I looked at him and his eyes were bloodshot …as if he hadn’t slept in hours. I was so upset I forgot to get the identification number of the bus. I would surely have called OC Transpo to report this driver if I had the bus number.
So having experienced first hand a driver about to fall asleep while driving on the Queensway (with a full load of passengers) I ask that council ensure that safe driving standards are met.
January 24th, 2009 at 10:41 am
It is time for binding arbitration. Please do it and end this strike now. This absolutely senseless.
January 24th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Mayor O’Brien,
You are doing a very good job and we the taxpayers are behind you. I would encourage you and Council to reach a fair agreement not one that will benefit the Union because if that happens then all the hardship that transit users and businesses have gone through would be for nothing. Fair is fair and the Union has to understand that.
January 24th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Binding arbitration, and set aside Scheduling!!
January 24th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Why can’t city council simply change the routes of those - I believe two(??) - buses that currently cross the border into Gatineau, thereby keeping all OC Transpo buses within the City of Ottawa alone?
January 24th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
It appears that the two negotiating teams in this strike have lost focus. It has become an issue of “We have to win” by both the ATU and the City, rather than what is best for the city. And the real losers are the citizens of Ottawa.
I personally think that the only way to break this strike is for both sides to change their negotiators and bring in new people who are not as angry, who will not try to settle scores on a personal level. Mr. Cornellier has no respect for Mr. Mercier, and vice versa. You can’t negotiate like this.
Obviously, safety is a top issue and should not be compromised, but in the meantime, the safety of many of Ottawa’s most needy is being compromised by the incalcitrant attitudes on both sides.
We have had enough.
January 24th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
How often does your 11hr back to back example occur? Why could you not just block the ability to do that without attacking all other facets of the scheduling ie: exagerated spreads and less than full day of work? I find it very difficult to understand that you want to do this in lieu of safety and it affects a very very small number of people yet for the majority of the work - split shifts - you feel extending their day (spread time) and extending their work week (11 or 12/14days) safety and health are no longer a concern? It is also fact that “federally“ Ottawa, Windsor and Gatineau are exempt from those rules but he majority of transit properties in Canada are also exempt? In fact the MTO handbook states that passenger bus drivers are exempt from such laws. I also have a big problem with the statement that your offer was fair and generous - I disagree, you are offering a 72 cent raise per hour but removing one hour at our wage. Your generos offer amounts to a longer day, longer week for the same or less money? What is fair or generous about that? I am anxiously awaiting your response - that is if you`ll actually post this.
V`83
January 24th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I was extremely disappointed to hear on the news last night that talks had broken down yet again. I think both parties need to be locked in a room and not let out until this is resolved.
I don’t own a vehicle. I have no medical emergencies that qualify me for ‘assistance’, I am not a senior citizen, nor am i handicap. This strike has left me stranded - I rely 100% on public transportation - I am currently looking for employment and due to my inability to get around to interviews, etc. I have pretty much had to put my job search, and my life on hold. - Those of you making the decision to “stand firm” most certainly are not dependant on the public transportation system, one I might add that I help to pay for with my taxes.
Please end this strike!!!!!
January 24th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
You need to read the Saturday Citizen - the editorial and Randall Denley’s column - and follow the advice contained therein. They were supporting you before but they have come to the realization (accurately) that the strike is destroying the people and businesses in this city. If you wish to salvage your career as Mayor you need to show leadership and get the buses back on the streets, even if it means that you give a little.
This last posting of yours espouses safety. No one will argue with you on that, but please, this is coming across as another piece of posturing. Place all the issues in the hands of an independent arbitrator, take off the conditions, and let an agreement be adjudicated. If the City’s position is right and just, the decision will reflect that. If the Union’s position is, the decision will reflect that as well. What are you afraid of? Do you think an independent arbitrator is secretly an ATU mole? Come on now, let’s get realistic.
The truth is that there are extreme positions on both sides. Arbitration will resolve the situation some where in the middle.
If you don’t solve the situation immediately, things will get worse. Councillors other than Clive Doucet are now speaking out, Mr. Jellet says the City should be giving tax rebates and Mr. Bloess is saying that no, there really aren’t any savings on the City’s side. Seeing both these interviews on the Friday evening news was really quite comical, and I’m afraid that the only deduction I could reach was that based on these councillors’ comments, Council has no idea which way is up.
It’s a sad situation that has passed the threshold of despair quite a while ago. Public opinion is turning and while there are supporters on the City’s side, and on the Union’s side, the majority is wearily asking that the strike be ended. How does the City balance any “savings” when they are achieved on the backs of those who need the buses the most, those who rely on public transit because they can’t afford any other alternatives.
Do you rely on public transit? How many councillors do? I suspect that very few of you do and, as a result, you are ill-qualified to comment on the topic at all.
January 24th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
OK, now you said the ATU made more demands and the ATU said that is a complete lie,,,So, who,s telling the truth???
January 24th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
A big deal is being made about Ottawa falling under federal hours of service regulations. Well lets look at “Ontario Regulation 555/06″ Exception # 5 clearly states all buses in Ontario which are part of a Municipal Transit System
are exempt from Hours of Service regulations. Also every other province in Canada has adopted the federal regulations. Drivers are responsible to maintain their license by following the law and the law exempts all Bus drivers in Canada. This is a lost argument. give it up.
January 25th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Oh and I forgot on other item that has been bugging me:
Please stop wasting money on advertising. People and businesses adversely affected by the bus strike are not helped by ads. They need buses not ads, so get them the buses instead of the ads. Thanks.
January 25th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Safety is important, yes.
And who knows more about scheduling safety than the people who drive the buses?
I can’t form an opinion on the safety/sleep schedule/ work schedule situation because I do not drive a bus.
Why not make a list? Take down all the things that the city and the union agree on. Then work on the issue(s) that they do not agree on.
January 25th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Mayor O’Brien, I support you, my elected representative, in your handling of the transit strike, to date. Soon I’ll need you for other things, so move on and resolve my transit issues. DO NOT compromise my family’s safety for nothing is more important too me. I wish there was more information available from the drivers’ point of view on these issues. Regardless, time to wrap-up, end the strike and get buses rolling (ours or someone else’s).
I still find it difficult to comprehend why negotiations and buses moving couldn’t have continued, rather than the situation that we are in now. The drivers are somewhat victims too, they felt wrongly treated and by walking out they severed their contract with the city and they now have someone trying to negotiate a new one.
January 25th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Are we waiting for a SERIOUS ACCIDENT & Harm to passengers to happen or do you Mr. Mayor nip this problem in the bud right NOW…Many a day myself.wife & daughter have notived drivers (OC Transpo) driving quite erractically almost nodding off to sleep during many trips taking…& were frightened of what might of happened…….
STAY THE COURSE Mayor Larry & Coucillors,we have come this far do not bend to the union demands & the select few of persons (probably family or friends of these selfish bus drivers) who say they are suffering..
Let them crawl back…………..or start training & hiring replacements as I am sure there would be many waiting in line to gratefully replace these incompetent drivers
January 25th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
The offers presented to the Union have been fair and reasonable. Please stay the course and do not allow the union to continue to manipulate the inefficiencies in the current contract.
I saw this both as a property tax payer and daily transit user.
-Ben
January 25th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Send it to arbitration. Transit must be restored now.
No one can win this, and Ottawa as a whole is losing too much.
January 25th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
First the issue was scheduling, now the City has added safety? When are the City’s demands ever going to end. I’ve taken the public transport all my life in the 3 cities I’ve lived in and have never once felt unsafe! Since this bus strike started, I’ve had to endure walking over 4 kms to work each way and I am very tired! Once I was almost run over by an agressive car driver. In the beginning I walked and cursed the bus operators, now I’ve changed positions and started to curse the City for failing to compromise, thus compromising my safety and security. This has gone on too long, both sides are total failures. Please end the strike now. Give in, I’m tired.
January 25th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
JCL
Put the schedule a side and any pay raise.
January 25th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
The union is without a contract right now. Why are we even considering renewing it? You ran a business, Mr. O’Brien. Would you have re-hired the kid in the mailroom who threw a tantrum and halted operations for a month and a half? I know you wouldn’t, and that’s why I’m glad you’re taking the stance you are.
Considering interprovincial/international/interstate long-haul transport drivers have to keep a written log of hours worked to hours sleep under penalty of law for everyone’s safety, I strongly believe that the driver at the helm of a tin-can zipping along our streets, packed to the roof with human cargo, needs to have those same rules applied … tenfold.
There’s got to be a lot of school bus drivers who would leap at an opportunity to make such a ridiculously bloated wage. Protip: Don’t renew the ATU’s contract - potentially save lives.
January 25th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Hey
I Think This Bus Strike Has Gone Far Enough. expecially in winter and for people who need to go to Doctors Appointments and Other Events/Parties
January 26th, 2009 at 6:50 am
DO NOT GIVE IN NOW!!! Don’t make the last 45+ days meaningless.
I and all the other residents of our city do not want to go through this again in 3 years…
January 26th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Stay the course. The offer is fair and even exceedingly generous!
By their actions they (ATU 279 and the drivers) have shown us their true colours. They are the ones that chose to strike during harsh economic times, harsh weather, picketing school shuttles, hockey games, etc.
We, the transit users, are struggling through this strike and hope that it will not be in vain. We’ve come this far and hope that the city and council will perservere and bust this union! May as well deal with all the issues now rather than just put a band-aid on it until the next strike…because you know that if ATU remains “in charge” of OC Transpo, they will never be content unless they get what they want, and more, and will threaten to / go on strike. It’s time for to put an end to this union.
January 26th, 2009 at 9:16 am
I increasingly find myself in support of the City’s position. It is Management’s responsibility to management the system within which workers work. The Union has usurped this responsibility (they call it their right) a number of years ago and this has led to abuse - and it has cost us taxpayers money.
DO NOT cave in to Union demands on this. On the Union side, the benefits of a few are driving the large majority of drivers through extreme pain. Hopefully this is slowly becoming clear to them and when they finally get a chance to vote again - on the same package - wisdom may prevail.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Obviously, the drivers hate the prospect of the split shift. If someone did that to me, whether I’m a office worker, or any other family man with a job, I’d screem bloody murder too, and fight to the bitter end. Don’t even think at 50 I’d even consider looking for another job.
But if any bus driver, or their supervisor, thinks that they can put people into harms way, by drivers driving too much, then these people that think it is up to them, are the same as drunk drivers who think they’ll be alright to drive!!!
What a mess this transit system is. I had no idea. I thought Ottawa would know better. It’s just too bad that the city isn’t considerate of the drivers lifestyle. The driver’s themselves, should be insisting on safer scheduling rules. If my wife heard that my boss let me, or expected me, to put myself in danger (as well as others) for some job related task, she’d freak.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Your Worship,
Please allow me to put in my two cents worth. I was in Montreal during the last bus strike there in the spring of 2007. I think the City of Montreal did something very smart on that occasion that gave the workers the right to express their displeasure with the ongoing labour situation while allowing a large number of Montreal commuters a semblance of public transit service.
The city, quite rightly, legislated that public transit is an essential service and compelled the STCUM to offer full services (bus and metro) during morning and afternoon rush hours for a 3 hour window morning and late afternoon. It did not solve every problem transit users were facing, but did allow a great many people to get around while reducing the financial burden on low income transit users who were forced to rely on cabs or stay home, as well as reducing traffic congestion.
While I applaud the many shuttle services that have been created for students and th carpooling efforts of others, it is not enough, too many people still fall through the cracks. This strike has lasted too long already and has imposed many hardships on Ottawa residents across the board. Perhaps a move to compell services, at least during rush hour, would help to alleviate the economic and social difficulties that close to 50 days of striking bus services have caused, especially as this strike is happening during the harsh winter months.
As an aside, as someone who now has to walk everywhere, I think the least the City could have done is to FULLY clear all sidewalks so that those who walk do not have to contend with icy sidewalks and uneven curbs on top of everything else.
There has been enough posturing, from both sides, the time has come to act and if full service cannot be restored in the very near term then, at the very least, essential rush hour services should be legally imposed in order to allow Ottawa residents to get on the move again, to restore economic activity in the core and to reduce traffic congestion. Negociations must also continue.
Or perhaps, all city councillors and senior staff should be required to get a taste of how the other half lives. May I respectfully suggest that they ALL be required to walk to work as well? No matter how far away they live from the core …… many other residents of the City of Ottawa now have no other option.
January 26th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
PLEASE, Mayor, please don’t let us scarified the past 48 days for nothing. The issue on scheduling must be resolved NOW. Don’t drag on, don’t get side-tracked, and don’t backpedal
January 26th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Council better not back down after we’ve suffered through nearly 50 days of hell… When this is over it the taxpayers who have put up with this will hold council accountable if it was all for nothing.
January 26th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
45 days into the strike and now it’s all bout safety! I heard nothing about safety on day 1 2 3……….. and so on. Give it a rest allready, and put the buses back on the road!
Thanks
A tax payer times 8
January 26th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Please do not give in to the ATU regarding wage increases that have been offered. I’ve had enough with annual property tax increases. There’s just no end in sight. I cannot afford any more increases. Enough is enough! In a time when people are losing jobs, the ATU should be gracious to accept what they’re being offered with regards to wage increases.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Why haven’t work rest rules been discussed in Transit Committee?
January 27th, 2009 at 12:25 am
Some of the stories coming to light about the struggles that many in this city have faced because of the strike are absolutely heartbreaking. I think all parties involved would agree that at this point there can be no real winners. Both sides seem to be trying to outlast the other, so it is difficult at times to see evidence of any real progress. That being said, I remain firmly on the side of the city on this issue. I have always and will always respect bus drivers for the difficult job they do to serve our community. But honestly folks, it is hard to believe that in times of such economic and job uncertainty for many, the union feels so incredibly entrenched in its sense of entitlement.
January 27th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Stick to your guns on this Mr. Obrien and all Councilors …stick together:
- we can no longer afford the high costs and privileges these unions are aiming to get for their employees.
YOU MUST NOT GIVE IN: DO NOT SETTLE -
- you have too many other negotiations coming up with other unions and any signs of weakness now will end up with dire consequences.
- this union is unrealistic in their expectations and it is about time all unions realize they do NOT run the city.
AVOID ARBITRATION at ALL costs…. the citizens of Ottawa will all lose in an arbitration settlement.. we always do !!!!!!!!!!!
It galls me to think that we are giving these bus drivers a “signing bonus” this should be removed from the table permanently
January 27th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
I would offer the more senior drivers an early retirement package, maybe that way the ones that are giving more problems (that have more “seniority”) will stay home (it looks like that is what they want, sustaining such a long strike). I am sure the citizens of Ottawa will prefer to have a limited service than none at all. Replace those older drivers, with new ones. Maybe their demands will change.
January 27th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
just shut it down and start under a new name in a few months
January 28th, 2009 at 7:58 am
Here is what you should do:
1. Put this into ARBITRATION
2. RESIGN
January 28th, 2009 at 10:28 am
I think the Mayor’s job is to ensure that the city works. It’s not happening. It’s a mess and getting worse. Figure out a way to resolve this issue and get the city back on track. That’s your job. The reality of dealing with unions is not unique to this city or your tenure as Mayor. Other cities manage so can you.
January 28th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I HAVE THE ANSWER: REPLACEMENT WORKERS.