WINNIPEG – Unionized bus drivers and maintenance staff with Winnipeg Transit are refusing to work overtime Monday.
Negotiators for the Amalgamated Transit Union and the city are in contract negotiations. The refusal of overtime work resulted in 14 buses pulled from service. On average, close to 500 buses are in service each day.
City officials say the 14 buses pulled from service caused minimal delays during the Monday morning commute. The city also says the cancelled routes were pulled from areas that offered a similar service through different routes.
According to Union spokesman John Callahan, up to 30 runs a day are done by drivers on overtime.
Handi-Transit customers are not affected, as that service is handled by private contractors.
Negotiations resumed Monday after the union rejected an offer in a vote taken April 13-17, by 91.5 percent.
The main issues are wages and the need for more staff, Callahan said.
“We don’t want to inconvenience the public any more than they are going to be inconvenienced by this. Our goal is to prove a point — that you can’t run a system this lean that you’re dependent on overtime in order to get the service out,” he said.
Transit riders are asked to visit the Winnipeg Transit website or call 311 for information about delays or cancellations.
The last time there was a transit strike in Winnipeg was 1976.
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