The head of the union representing close to 900 Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) workers says a “final offer” from the city in labour negotiations is “not an acceptable offer,” escalating the likelihood of a work stoppage in the weeks ahead.
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 107 lead Eric Tuck says after 26 days of bargaining, he’ll recommend members turn down the city’s latest proposed wage increase, which he claims “doesn’t even keep pace with inflation.”
“The wage offer that the employer is making right now is about an average of 3.25 per year over the four-year contract, and the reality is inflation this year alone is at four per cent and that’s not acceptable,” Tuck said.
Members are now officially in a strike position as a deadline for job action went into effect overnight on Wednesday.
Over 99 per cent of the ATU’s members are in favour of a strike should a deal not be reached.
The ATU 107 is set to meet next with members on Nov. 5 when they are expected to vote on the latest offer.
Tuck says the group likely would walk some 72 hours after that, halting bus service across the city.
Wages, safety and light rail transit (LRT) procurement are the key issues, with the union pointing to double-digit increases it says senior city administrators recently received from the city.
Members are seeking something similar to deals reached with non-union workers and CUPE members this year, addressing living increases to compensate for inflation over the past two years.
“City council voted to give 1,100 bureaucrats, non-unionized bureaucrats earning between $120,000 and $160,000 a year a raise,” Tuck said.
“They received a four per cent increase, plus an additional market adjustment of up to 11 per cent. So we simply don’t see this offer as being fair for our members.”
Hamilton’s executive director of human resources Lora Fontana confirmed the final offer was given just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday and that the city has “no intention” of locking out the ATU members.
“As such, we expect service will run as scheduled, until notice otherwise,” Fontana said.
On Monday, the city alerted residents to seek “alternative forms of transportation” for commuting, confirming receipt of a formal no-board notice on Oct. 8 and opening the door for labour action from either the city or ATU members.
The city’s director of communications Matthew Grant said even with no intention to lockout workers, staff are notifying riders of that possibility prior to the union’s November vote.
“We know that many Hamiltonians rely on our transit system to get to where they’re going, so we just wanted to make sure that everyone understood there’s a possibility of this occurring,” Grant said.
He went on to say there are not enough managers or alternate staff to continue any service resulting in vehicles off the road and in storage at the Mountain Transit Centre.
The city’s DARTS program will not be affected since those drivers belong to a different union.
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