WINNIPEG – The City of Winnipeg and the Amalgamated Transit Union have reached a tentative agreement.
The two parties decided ATU’s voluntary overtime ban will be lifted and effective immediately.
“It’s definitely a relief, it has been a long process,” said ATU Local 1505 President John Callahan.
READ MORE: Buses cancelled after Winnipeg Transit workers refuse to work overtime
Winnipeg transit is expecting service to run normally again after the backlog of bus maintenance is taken care of.
“I think ATU… are happy with the outcome, we’ve all worked very well and very hard to come up with a good deal,” said Winnipeg transit director Dave Wardrop.
More than 130 Winnipeg buses were out of service after a month of no overtime by drivers and mechanics. Cancellations and delays on dozens of routes were frustrating passengers.
“Definitely during rush hour traffic it was difficult getting home a lot longer waits,” said Valdeen Coughlin who relies on transit every day.
The Offer of Settlement still needs to be ratified by ATU members and city council.
“We’ll put up a notice for a few days and then we’ll have two mass meetings… then four days of voting,” said Callahan.
Callahan expects this process to start in the next couple of weeks.
He also said an overtime cap of 40 hours per week has been put in place for mechanics and expects a similar cap for drivers.
And Wardrop said they will try to add more safety precautions for bus drivers.
“We’ve committed to participate in a public information campaign to help people know what the proper etiquette and behaviuor and respect is… for operators,” said Wardrop.
Winnipeg Transit employs about 1,100 bus drivers and 250 maintenance staff.
- ‘Shock and disbelief’ after Manitoba school trustee’s Indigenous comments
- Canadian man dies during Texas Ironman event. His widow wants answers as to why
- Several baby products have been recalled by Health Canada. Here’s the list
- ‘Sciatica was gone’: hospital performs robot-assisted spinal surgery in Canadian first
Comments