Watch above: Labour board rules Saskatoon Transit lockout illegal
SASKATOON – According to the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 615 (ATU 615) website, the City of Saskatoon’s lockout has been deemed illegal.
The City says the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board found it was not in a legal position to lock out workers of the transit union.
As a result, the panel has ordered the city to lift the lockout and pay transit union damages.
“We were just jumping around and yelling and hugging each other,” said Susan Southern, who has been a Saskatoon Transit bus driver for seven years.
In a statement released Friday, the city said it believed the lockout was legal because the workplace complaint had not yet been heard at a formally constituted meeting of the labour board and was therefore not “pending before the board.”
“We are surprised and disappointed at the Labour Board’s ruling,” says City Solicitor Patricia Warwick.
“This decision flies in the face of 70 years of law in Saskatchewan. Unfortunately today’s ruling is also another distraction. It gets us no closer to solving any of the contract issues and in fact, the ruling has serious long-term implications.”
Saskatoon Transit workers were locked out on Sept. 20.
Wendy Winiewski contributed to this story
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