It’s a done deal: Halifax’s transit strike is over.
Halifax regional council voted 19-2 Tuesday night to ratify the collective agreement Metro Transit workers overwhelmingly approved earlier in the day.
Unionized operators and maintenance staff supported the deal with 88 per cent voting in favour.
Now after 41 days off the job, 750 operators and maintenance staff are getting ready to go back to work.
Buses should be back on the road by Friday, while ferry service should be restored by Thursday.
The Access-A-Busses are expected to be back to regular schedules by Monday.
In a bid to win back commuters, who have been making due without transit since Feb. 2, Metro transit will offer free rides until the end of March.
Officials with Metro Transit say they expect ridership will drop four per cent because of the strike.
“You do lose ridership,” spokesperson Lori Patterson. says. “People have to find other means to get around and they sometimes stay with that for a while… so it takes a while to get those people back.”
Read the full statement from Halifax Regional Municipality below
As the estimated 55,000 Halifax-area commuters breathe a sigh of relief that the longest strike in the city’s history is now over, not all transit workers are happy with the outcome.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 508 president Ken Wilson says 643 of the 750 members voted Tuesday.
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And even though the majority of them supported the agreement, some say the strike was for nothing, especially since they didn’t succeed in getting rostering removed from Halifax Regional Municipality’s (HRM) offer.
“I went out six weeks ago against rostering and six week later I still haven’t changed my mind,” says transit worker Eileen Crouse. “I still feel it’s not going to be the be all and end all answer for the overtime issue.”
Rostering refers to how drivers will now be scheduled in weekly blocks, rather than choosing individual shifts in three months blocks.
Metro Transit said throughout the impasse, the former method of scheduling lead to shifts not being filled and millions of dollars in overtime being paid out.
HRM’s deal included a Memorandum of Understanding with ATU as to how rostering will be implemented, with input from the union.
Wilson says it wasn’t the best deal, but it was a “made in Halifax solution to scheduling.”
“I said it was liveable, it was manageable and it was a way to get people back to work and buses and ferries back in service. You know it wasn’t the golden deal, but second prize wasn’t as bad also.”
The new five-year deal includes a $4,000 signing bonus, which workers can’t claim as income, and a raise of two per cent for each of the following four years. The contract also stipulates new drivers will have to work for five years before reaching full salary.
Mayor Peter Kelly insists nothing has changed dollar-wise since the last contract offer Feb. 23.
“There has been no changes whatsoever,” Kelly explains. “It’s the same offer in terms of value, in terms of value that placed before the union back then and it was nice to see that they looked at it – or re-looked at it – and see the opportunities to bring a conclusion forward.
The wage package in the collective agreement is worth $14.5 million over five years, HRM says. With “efficiencies and offsets that will save $8.9 million,” it amounts to a three per cent ($5.6 million) increase of Metro Transit’s wage budget for the five-year term.
“Council told our bargaining team to be creative and we could not have secured this deal without Mayor and Council’s ongoing support from the beginning,” Metro Transit Director Eddie Robar says.
“While it’s been a long, difficult time for everyone dealing with the various impacts of the transit strike, the operational efficiencies and financial benefits in the new agreement support management’s stewardship of our public transit system for years to come.”
*With files from Natasha Pace
Halifax Regional Council Ratifies New Collective Agreement for Metro Transit
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