City of Saskatoon issues second transit lockout notice

“The main objectives of city is that ATU had a 97 per cent strike mandate… so once fall starts, we were very concerned about a winter strike,” Saskatoon general manager of transportation and utilities Jeff Jorgenson said. “In order to be in compliance with the board’s order, we have re-issued a lockout notice to ATU and we intend to bargain with ATU as soon as they’re available.”

Jorgenson said it is unlikely buses will run again between Saturday afternoon and Sunday’s lockout.
Union president Jim Yakubowski said they are disappointed with the city’s second lockout.

“We just received notification yesterday that this lockout was illegal and we’re optimistic that now we can get back to work… and then we were served with this which obviously shows the city potentially has other plans,” Yakubowski said. “Our position is that this is not a lawful (lockout) notice once again.”

If the city follows through with the notice and locks out drivers on Sunday, Yakubowski said they will be “following the necessary steps” to find out if the second lockout is legal.

The city remained relatively quiet on the SRLB ruling on Friday, issuing one release in which they said they were disappointed with the ruling. A solitary tweet on twitter around 7 p.m. said the city would comply with the SLRB’s ruling but made no mention of the lockout notice. The union was also silent about the lockout until Saturday morning.

The SLRB ruling also said the city must compensate workers for lost wages, however Jorgenson said the city and ATU will need to meet to figure out exactly how much is owed and whether it is for the full 27 day lockout of until the previous outstanding issue was resolved on Oct. 3.

“Our interpretation of the board’s order is that it would be a partial payment for the wages between then and now,” Jorgenson said.

When asked whether the city will appeal the ruling, Jorgenson said the city will need to see SLRB’s reasons for its decision before making a decision.

Jorgenson said the two sides remain far apart on contract negotiations.

“ATU’s demands far exceed what we are prepared to ask citizens of Saskatoon to pay,” he said, adding the union’s offer calls for an average wage increase of 19 per cent with as much as a 35 per cent wage increase for some classes of workers.

The city said they are ready to return to the bargaining table while the union said they are unavailable until Sunday.

“We’re still optimistic that when we meet tomorrow at 1 p.m. that they’re going to be talking about putting our buses back on the road,” Yakubowski said.

Notable mediator Vince Ready may rejoin the talks this coming week after making a one day appearance on Oct. 10. Jorgenson said the latest day he is available is Wednesday.

Jorgenson said the city will look into reimbursing long-term transit pass holders or extending their passes.
When asked whether the second lockout will affect the city’s reputation, Jorgenson said “the most important thing, and our primary objective, is to get sustainable transit system back on the road.”

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by Lasia Kretzel

City of Saskatoon issues second transit lockout notice

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