By paNOW Staff

Saskatoon bus drivers locked out, bus service stops

Sep 21, 2014 | 8:59 AM

paNOW Staff 

Thousands of Saskatoon bus riders will be forced to find other modes of transportation until further notice after contract negotiations between the City and transit union broke down again Saturday.

The City of Saskatoon announced last-minute negotiations with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 615 had failed to produce a contract agreement.

Some 330 transit workers were locked out effective 10 p.m. The city said workers will stay off the job until an agreement is reached.

The lockout does not affect Access Transit, which is considered an essential service.

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Prior to the city's announcement, about a dozen protesters assembled at Saskatoon city hall, including 18 year old Dailen Yackobeck who chained himself to the building's front door. He pledged to stay there “as long as it takes” for transit service to resume.

A small group gathered in front of city hall Saturday night to protest the transit lock out. Lasia Kretzel/News Talk Radio
“We're disappointed that the city did not have anything more for us within the context of this four year agreement,” ATU 615 president Jim Yakubowski said.

In a news release, Saskatoon Director of Human Resources Marno McInnis said the union now wants a 22.25% wage increase for its members over five years.

“They are now asking for much more than what they were willing to settle for in December 2013,” he said, adding “this is more than double what the other eight unions accepted.”

Saskatoon Director of Human Resources Marno McInnis announces transit lockout Saturday night after city and union were unable to reach a deal. Lasia Kretzel/News Talk Radio

McInnis said the two sides are now further apart than ever before.

Yakubowski accused the city of “twisting the numbers”. He said they requested an additional 65 cents an hour in 2015 – the third year of the contract – plus an additional $1.00 an hour in 2016, over and above the 10 per cent increase over four years the city initially offered.

“What we suggested to them was that we would be willing to take a longer-term five-year agreement if they were to come up with four percent in that fifth year,” he explained. “We're just simply trying to make up some ground in comparison to other western Canadian cities.”

Changes to the defined benefit pension plan is the other sticking point between the two sides.

The city has to fill a $6.7 million transit pension deficit, and with no labour agreement, the city is forced to make special monthly payments of $90,100 to fill in the gap. McInnes said this is putting the city in financial risk.

A special sitting of City Council has been planned for noon on Monday. The city's administration will recommend City Council approve changes to the general pension plan, imposing pension contribution rate increases across the city's nine unions, including transit.

McInnis said as far as city lawyers were concerned, such an action was within the law.

Again, Yakubowski accused the city of falsifying the data.

“We have information that leads us to believe that the city has falsified the status of our plan in an effort to convince the citizens of Saskatoon of the financial condition of it,” he said.

Despite the apparent deadlock, Yakubowski said he was confident that the issues would be resolved, “hopefully sooner rather than later.”

With files from News Talk's Kurtis Doering and Lasia Kretzel

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