Transit union has a new president

As you might have seen reported in most Ottawa news media, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) local 279 elected a new president last week. The new boss is Garry Queale, a longtime driver and dispatcher for OC Transpo, and his first comments should be welcome: "I want to negotiate a fair deal for our members, and not do it through the TV and radio and newspapers."

His full (and brief) comment, from the Ottawa Citizen:

"My priority is to work within the membership to boost morale and work with the city together, and not through the media," said Queale, a longtime dispatcher with OC Transpo. "We’ve been through lots of battles and I want to negotiate a fair deal for our members, and not do it through the TV and radio and newspapers. I know Mayor Jim Watson; I’m sure I can work with him."

The last president of the ATU 279 was certainly commendable for the passion with which he fought for his union, but came under fire for his unapologetic comments in the media. And acting president Mike Aldrich, who served while Cornellier he was in poor health and since his mid-January passing, was no stranger to the media, and routinely offered his comments whenever asked--whether the subject was his membership, or simply OC Transpo as a whole.

Citizens and ATU members are both likely relieved to see someone who, at least initially, is more interested in negotiating with the city rather than negotiating through the media. The toxic atmosphere through 2008-09 transit strike was contributed to by poor choices on both sides, and poor decisions made by both Cornellier and former mayor Larry O'Brien in particular. Hopefully in this round of negotiations, with the sides led by quieter leaders Queale and Watson, we'll see a more amicable resolution.

A change of tone between the OC Transpo and the union

Well this is a refreshing dose of positive news.

Less than a week ago, I posted about early jockeying between the city and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 279 as the two sides were preparing to negotiate an extension to their agreement to keep OC Transpo buses running. It seemed the hostility between the two sides hadn't faded at all, and didn't bode well for negotiations.

But now, things seem to be a little different. Mayor Jim Watson met with acting president of the ATU 279 Mike Aldrich on Monday to discuss the future of Ottawa public transit (and preventing another transit strike), and Transit Commission acting chair Diane Deans is to meet with Aldrich on Tuesday for the same thing. The two had earlier said their interest was in smoothing relations between OC Transpo and the union, but hadn't done anything to put substance behind their words; opening up communication is a good place to start.

But it takes two sides to negotiate, and it looks like Aldrich is ready to do so now, too. On Monday, in an interview with the Ottawa Sun, Aldrich seemed to be moving forward with the negotiations:

Aldrich said he’s “looking forward” to the upcoming negotiations and hinted that things will be different with the ATU now under his leadership and not that of former president Andre Cornellier.

“It will be a whole new way of negotiating. We’re going to get rid of the adversarial attitude and get along. We (the ATU and the city) want to have a world-class transit system,” he said.

“This is the public’s transit system and I don’t want to use the public as pawns, we had 54 days of that s**t. It’s the last thing we want.”

There's some passion there, and it's a passion to find a proper agreement before push comes to shove and a strike seems inevitable. All of a sudden, I'm fairly optimistic these two sides can figure this thing out.

How bad are relations between OC Transpo and its union?

Late last week, a possible deal between OC Transpo and its drivers was rejected by the drivers' union. It was disappointing to see the issue continue to go on unresolved, but the motion seemed to point to one positive fact: Communication between the two sides is ongoing. Given the intense negativity leading up to, during, and since the 2008-09 transit strike, any communication must be a good thing.

Right?

Hopefully. But as David Reevely points out in his latest column at Greater Ottawa, the ATU 279 membership, it appears, is "militant". With that in mind, who knows whether or not the results of these votes are true disagreement with the agreement put forward, or just rejected out of spite? From Reevely's blog:

"The dangerous problem I see isn't that the OC Transpo union members are militant. They were pretty badly put upon at the time of the last strike, by managers who wanted to take away an extremely important element in their contract with apparently no understanding of why it was there in the first place (letting drivers, in particular, have considerable control over their own work schedules was a key move in an effort to detoxify the OC Transpo workplace after the deadly Pierre Lebrun shootings a decade ago). I can see where the militancy comes from, and anyway, tough but skilled managers can deal with a militant union membership in a non-destructive fashion. They did it after the shootings, for example."

Leading up to the vote, on the OC Transpo livejournal, user roadwarrier came out in support of the agreement. Roadwarrier is one of the more vocal operators on the LiveJournal, and he tried to convince his brothers and sisters why it wasn't such a bad deal--or at least to explain why he was voting yes.

"Well gang, I was one of the big naysayers, no at any cost, with a serious vendetta against management. Quite frankly, I walked into the meeting ready to vote this thursday, ready to vote no at any cost, no matter how good the offer was.

"And I've done a 180. The executive has worked very hard to get some strong language and some real goodies for us. Stuff that's going to cost the company a lot of money and that really benefits us. Stuff that wasn't on the table when we walked and stuff that was on the table. At the end of the day, my gut tells me that this is a very good offer and the only reason the offer is so good is that the city knows they can't keep going with the way it is."

Since roadwarrier's post, a series of follow-up threads were posted leading up to the vote: Titles such as "NOT SUCH A GREAT DEAL", "Vague language in Contract - vote NO unless rectified", "VOTE NO! VOTE NO! VOTE NO! VOTE NO! VOTE NO! VOTE NO! VOTE NO! VOTE NO! VOTE NO!", "Vote No", and "Why I've decided to vote no" were all put up. They acknowledged "minor improvements" for drivers, but cautioned union members to "think worst case scenario" [sic]; it seems the relationship is so toxic, the union is assuming managers are trying to pull one over on them, and will be taking a mile for every inch given.

And now, interim union leader Mike Aldrich has taken issue with explanations made by OC Transpo general manager Alain Mercier about service issues. Rather than Mercier's excuses of vacationing drivers, Aldrich said that service problems that have come up through the summer had more to do with these 'scheduling issues' that continue to elude proper, concise explanation.

So we've got a union head who seems open to compromise (Aldrich) standing in for a much more confrontational union leader (Andre Cornellier, who's taken personal leave) in leading a group of militant employees (the ATU 279) to negotiate with a manager who's done little to befriend the union, and a fair bit to irk them (Mercier)--and who, it should be noted, is supported by a mayor who seems enemy number one to the union (Larry O'Brien)--to come to an agreement on issues few, if any, truly understand and may or may not actually materialize into 'operational efficiencies' (scheduling).

Brace yourselves. The end seems far off.

No more transit strikes as city, union reach deal

Old news by now, but many of you have probably heard that the City of Ottawa and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 279 have reached an agreement to avoid strikes by using an arbitration system for new contracts.

The recent labour strife between the two sides resulted in a 53-day strike, and was finally ended when the two sides agreed to--you guessed it--binding arbitration.

From a 580 CFRA report:

Emerging from a closed door session at City Hall, and flanked by union leaders Andre Cornellier and Randy Graham, Deputy Mayor Michel Bellemare said they will now implement an arbitration system to automatically resolve contract disputes and prevent strikes or lockouts.

Last year, the contract agreement with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 expired in March, and fruitless negotiations led to an all-out strike which began December 10th and lasted a record 53 days.

Talks break off... again...

According to the Ottawa Sun, the Amalgamated Transit Union has walked away from the negotiating table after deciding the city hadn't sufficiently improved its contract offer to the union of 2300 memers:

"The city failed to change its key offers," says Andre Cornellier, president of ATU Local 279.

Cornellier says there is no evidence the city's bargaining team has a new mandate.

Mayor Larry O'Brien, however, has disagreed, and is stating that the city is working on addressing the concerns the drivers have with the contract:

"The city has shown that it is willing to negotiate and compromise," O'Brien said. "The only way to end this strike is for both sides to work together. However, we would like to see the union come back to the table with those items they are willing to compromise on."

And the city's much-discussed 'new mandate', which had been previously unknown due to a media blackout, apparently involves meeting the union's demanded pay raises and an offer to establish a joint committee to negotiate scheduling issues to reflect the demands of the city and the union:

The city also said to arrive at a solution, it removed the $2,500 signing bonus and replaced it with an additional 2% wage increase over two years. The city was originally offering a 7.25% increase over three years, while the union was asking for 9.25% over the same time period.

The city has also offered to set up a temporary joint management and union committee to devise a scheduling system that includes work-rest rules it argues would improve service reliability.

Ottawa Transit Strike Day 40: Close, but no cigar

Today's leading headlines on the Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun, respectively, are: Transit union rejects latest city offer and Buses not set to roll just yet.

The papers are listless in their story's ledes. In the Citizen:

It's still not over.

Despite hopes that a deal might have been close, leaders of Ottawa's 2,300 striking OC Transpo workers rejected a city council counter-offer yesterday that could have seen the 40-day transit strike settled in days by an arbitrator.

And in the Sun:

After a recent flurry of activity and guarded optimism that the longest transit strike in the city's history might be coming to an end, both sides dug in their heels yesterday and blamed each other for a stalemate that appears to be far from over.

The only news today is that ATU 279 leadership was "disappointed" with the City's response to what the union saw as a fair offer.

Union president Andre Cornellier released a statement on ATU 279's strike website commenting on the important distinction between scheduling and the rest of the outstanding issues at the table.

“We can’t lose sight of the fact that when this system was created it took a joint labour-management committee more than a year to assemble it, now the City thinks a fact-finder would resolve this in two weeks. Yesterday the Union offered to work with the City for as long as it takes to resolve legitimate issues.”

The City's most recent counter-offer, union officials say, simply isn't very different from the deal they rejected soundly a couple of weeks ago.

Union may target students, Para Transpo UPDATED

The Ottawa Sun reports this morning that ATU 279 president Andre Cornellier is not ruling out picketing any private shuttles that accept city funding or the expanded Para Transpo service if it is staffed by new, non-unionized workers.

In a letter to the city's post-secondary schools, Cornellier warned of picketing at both pick-up and drop-off locations should the schools run their shuttles with the help of cash from the city. He said the arrangement would be "tantamount to the use of scab labour" and that "our members will not stand by and let the city pay for their work to be done by other companies."

And on Para Transpo:

"It is very disappointing that the City of Ottawa has chosen to hire scab labour during this strike. Instead of bargaining with us to find ways to resolve this strike, Mayor O'Brien seems determined to create even more disruptions for the people of this city," Cornellier said yesterday in a press release.

UPDATE: The Citizen reports that Para Transpo will not be picketed, and university shuttles will not likely be picketed.

h/t David Reevely, who passed this along to TransitOttawa.ca's ongoing liveblog

Cracks in city council's position of solidarity

As we wait for the Jan. 14, 2009 City Council meeting to complete their in-camera session--going on seven-and-a-half hours now--here is a briefing of the recent developments within council, which they will have spent at least some of this marathon in-camera session discussing.

The first sign of stresses within City Council's solidarity came after union members voted 75 per cent against the city's most recent offer, after which Transit Committee Chair and Bay Ward Councillor Alex Cullen suggested that the city may need to "reassess" their position on the strike. From a report in the Ottawa Sun:

"This will be Day 36 and we need to reassess how we are handling the strike," said Cullen. "We are not at the table and there is no end in sight. We want the strike to end.

[...]

"It [the City's strategy] has to be discussed," he said. "It's been a contest between two players (O'Brien and union president Andre Cornellier) and this is not conducive to settling a strike. I don't want to undermine the mayor but we have to reassess what works and what doesn't work."

In the same Sun story, Capital Councillor Clive Doucet had some harsher words for Mayor Larry O'Brien and his tactics:

"I want him out of there. I have been betrayed by his leadership," said Doucet.

Doucet is also calling for new city negotiators."We have negotiators that are out of touch and it's not something you joke around with."

Doucet was also quoted by the Ottawa Citizen in saying he and the rest of council were "misled" by O'Brien, and had some even more pointed comments on CBC.ca:

"He comes out of the private sector, he's never worked in a unionized environment before, he's never worked in the public sector environment before," he said. "We've got someone who not only is a politician but clearly maladapted to the situation he finds himself in."

There were rumours of potential legal action against Doucet for, according to Orléans Councillor Bob Monette, weakening the city's bargaining position, but--pending the outcome of the current ongoing in-camera session--there has been nothing pursued against the councillor. According to CBC.ca, however, Doucet may face sanctions from some of his council colleagues:

"City council went behind closed doors shortly before noon to discuss possible sanctions against Capital Ward Coun. Clive Doucet and other matters related to the transit strike. By late afternoon, councillors had still not emerged."

And that's about where we sit right now, waiting for council to exit their in-camera session so we can find out what they may have been talking about, and what they may have decided or be deciding publicly.

The dark side of leadership

Both ATU 279 president Andre Cornellier and Ottawa mayor Larry O'Brien have taken their lumps in the public eye during the current OC Transpo strike, it seems. Each has been portrayed as, to put it lightly, conniving.

Today's Ottawa Sun cover:


Readers will recall the students' likeness of O'Brien on a postcard to City Hall:


UPDATE: This picture was posted on Livejournal's OC Transpo community:

ATU 279 takes on Lowell Green

From a press release on ATU 279's strike website:

President Andre Cornellier and the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 279 filed a complaint with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council challenging the appropriateness of comments made by CFRA talk radio host Lowell Green.

[...]

On December 12, 2008, Mr. Green publicly encouraged his listening audience to attend at, and picket the OC Transpo Annual Christmas Party. Mr. Green made no effort to discourage the many callers who promoted violence against the members of the Union attending the Christmas Party.

[...]

By making the public comments that he did, the Union alleges that Mr. Green has violated a number of sections of the CAB Code of Ethics. Both Mr. Green and CFRA have been found to have failed to meet the requirements of the Code of Ethics in the past for the very same reasons that have led the Union to file this complaint.

Ambrose to force vote UPDATED

Earlier this afternoon, federal labour minister Rona Ambrose announced that she will force ATU Local 279's leadership to put the City's latest offer to a vote of the union's membership. The Ottawa Citizen pre-emptively endorsed that action in an editorial in today's edition.

The date of the vote was not immediately apparent, a story in the Citizen reported.

Ms. Ambrose ordered the vote be conducted by officials at the Canada Industrial Relations Board, and that it be “held as soon as possible.” She left it up to the board to decide when the vote will be held but ordered that it take place no later than Jan. 9. There was no word Wednesday from board officials on what date they might choose.

The union had no comment in the story, which led coverage on National Newswatch as recently as 6 p.m. today.

UPDATE: Another story at cbc.ca reported that a vote will be held no later than Jan. 9, and it added that Ambrose "is also asking the industrial relations board to look at agreements between the City of Ottawa and the union regarding essential services. The board has the power to make orders and confirm or change existing essential-services agreements."

ATU 279 president Andre Cornellier's comments appeared in the CBC story:

Andre Cornellier, president of ATU Local 279, said he was "very disappointed" with Ambrose's "unprecedented" decision.

"We still believe strongly that the membership will reject the second offer," he said, adding that he believes workers will "react in a different negative way" to the forced vote.

Impasse in transit talks UPDATED

The Ottawa Sun is reporting that talks have broken off in negotiations between the city and the OC Transpo's Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279. CTV.ca is also reporting that the two sides have split, and they suggest that the strike is far from over. According to the Sun, "City spokesman Michael Fitzpatrick said union officials walked away from the table."

On the official website of the ATU, President Andre Cornellier made the following statement:

"The Union came to the table tonight [Tuesday] to settle this dispute, to put buses back on the road, but Larry O'Brien has made sure none of that will happen."

"Mayor O'Brien has ignored the expert mediator's recommendation, and the concerns of many City Councillors, he's tinkered around the edges of their last position, and not addressed a single part of the scheduling."

"The Mayor has ignored the original reasons for this scheduling system - he has decided it will be a long cold winter for Ottawa's transit users."

Mayor Larry O'Brien is scheduled to have a press conference at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday morning.

UPDATE: On his blog, O'Brien countered Cornellier's contention of the city being unflexible, and also mentioned that the City of Ottawa has made an appeal to the Federal Labour Minister Rona Ambrose to force union leadership to put the city's most recent offer to a vote in membership:

Last night the City of Ottawa provided a fair and reasonable offer to the ATU executive that included a 7.25% increase over three years, more sick days, a one-time payout to offset the City having full control of the scheduling rules and we also offered more benefits for the drivers.

The union executive has decided that this was not enough. They are asking for a wage increase of 9.25 % over the next three years.

[...]

Today the City sent a letter to Labour Minister Rona Ambrose asking her to intervene and permit a supervised vote of the members on our last offer – wage increase of 7.25%, more benefits, more sick days and some flexibility to the scheduling offer.

Ottawa Transit Strike: Day 13

A lot of talks over the weekend, but no solutions came about. The nearer we get to Christmas, the less likely it is that there will be any solution until the new year. Which is sad for everyone involved, except possibly the city that is saving $3M a week while the strike is on.

One catch-all article posted on CTV.ca has the following headlines within itself:

• Some local businesses are suggesting that the OC Transpo strike, combined with the unfriendly weather, has brought a 20-30 per cent reduction in consumer traffic;
• To help people get to the mall, Bayshore Shopping Centre is offering a $5 taxi chit to shoppers who visit customer service with their receipts;
• Some job hunters are being forced to turn down jobs because, without buses, they haven't got a way to get to their possible new jobs;
• Some folks are losing jobs they had because they can't get in to work anymore;
• Para Transpo has increased operations 10 per cent since OC Transpo service stopped;
• And, finally, even if an agreement is reached, it would likely take a few days to a week for full service to be restored.

On CBC.ca, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 President Andre Cornellier isn't very optimistic about the current negotiations, and he's not hiding that fact. But some picketers, according to the same article, have been noticing a swing in the battle for public opinion in favour of the ATU since their official website was launched about a week ago:

"Well, we're talking right now…When people are talking, things can happen," said Andre Cornellier, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 Monday, while taking a break from negotiations with the City of Ottawa.

"But you know what, I'm not very optimistic right now . I wouldn't want to give anybody a false sense of hope or not."

[...]

Norm Deschamps, who has been driving an OC Transpo bus for 20 years, said he gets the impression that people's opinions have been turning in the bus drivers' favour since the recent launch of the union's website, which was last updated on Friday.

"We're finally getting some information out that has given [our] whole perspective of this strike to the public," Deschamps said.

And the Ottawa Citizen had a riveting report of no news in the negotiations.

Ottawa Transit Strike: Day 12

The resumption of negotiations between the city and the ATU is the biggest news item of the weekend, but a media blackout have rendered updates on the discussion few and far between.

Another big news update over the weekend, however, is added proof to a possible rift between ATU membership and leadership. The Ottawa Sun's Earl McRae had a column featuring OC Transpo driver Mike Kouri, who suggested that the union has misled its members while setting the stage to go on strike. From the story:

"I'm going to get a petition going with the drivers and have it shoved right in Cornellier's face. There's tremendous pressure on him to have a vote... Even if a majority of the drivers agree (to a new vote, or strike suspension) I doubt he'll go for it ... He has an intimidating way of doing things, he's all hard-nosed.

"It's time he realizes he works for us, it's the decision of the members, not him. Andre Cornellier does not have the authority to refuse to let us vote if we demand it.

"People are really hurting because of the strike, and that includes bus drivers and their families. They've got kids, mortgages and bills, too. It's (the strike) hurting businesses badly. In this world economic crisis, this is no time for a strike. Self-interests have to be sacrificed."

[...]

"I voted to reject because we were told you always reject the first offer. But it was not a vote to strike, it was a vote to reject. We were led to believe we'd have another chance to vote if it changed. Well, the offer did change in significant ways between Wednesday and a week later when he (Cornellier) called the strike, but he didn't give us a chance to vote on it."

Kouri has written documentation from OC Transpo general manager Alain Mercier -- dated three days before the strike -- revealing how parts of the offer had changed, such as the signing bonuses for drivers increasing to $2,000 from $1,400, sick days to eight days from six, and, wrote Mercier, "the changes being proposed by management will still allow workers to book quarterly in accordance with their seniority and therefore to work the daily schedule that suits their preferences ... seniority rights will be respected."

ATU's no-media policy a bad idea: Nepean This Week

Nepean This Week printed an editorial this week about ATU Local 279 President Andre Cornellier's refusal to speak with the media, warning that it's tantamount to refusing to speak with the public--and a failure to get your point across.

"Cornellier has adopted an innovative strike tactic.

"Hear no media, see no media, speak to no media.

"One might as well say hear no public, see no public, speak to no public. Other members of the media have reported similar problems.

"How incredibly misguided and how incredibly arrogant.

"Cornellier would probably tell us – we can only guess – that his only responsibility as union president is to negotiate the best possible contract for his membership.

"No argument there.

"But communication and public relation skills will play an important part in brokering that deal.

"This isn’t labour action at the auto plant or the local megastore.

"This is a transit strike.

"It has upended the lives of thousands of residents: making it difficult for people to get to work, go to the hospital, or travel to universities to write exams."

The ATU has finally gotten some word out about their case, after launching an official website yesterday: www.ottawatransitstrike.com. Still, without cooperation with and from the media, the Union's case will suffer.

A rift between ATU members and leadership?

The Ottawa Sun is reporting today that Andre Cornellier, embattled president of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 279 has been pressuring striking union members to picket in greater numbers in the downtown core, rather than at OC Transpo headquarters on St. Laurent Blvd, to increase the effectiveness of their pickets. From the Sun:

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 president Andre Cornellier spent part of yesterday exhorting his union members to stop taking the easy way out, as picketing downtown was once again sparse at best.

[...]

"I came here the first day and there were 200 people here," Cornellier said at OC Transpo headquarters on St. Laurent Blvd., where a large contingent of workers were picketing.

"I wanted them to go downtown and nobody would go."

Although drivers and other members speaking out against their union are few and far between, this could be a sign of a growing rift between the union's membership and its members. In the face of intense public pressure, criticism, and--increasingly--hostility, drivers may be looking for a way to protest the city's hardline stance without angering the city's already-intensely inconvenienced publics. Of course, the Union's leadership, led by Cornellier, seems to be basing their decisions on what will create the largest impact on the city, and thus its citizens, in order to impress upon Mayor Larry O'Brien and the City's negotiating team how important OC Transpo and its drivers are to us all.

This decision, however, seems to be giving O'Brien more credibility and support in playing hardball (at least for the moment), while the drivers--many of whom would rather not be on strike--face the brunt of the public outrage. The citizens, after all, would be valuable allies in the ATU's fight against the City, but the union has been losing the battle of public opinion, to date.

In the news: OC Transpo strike, Day 7

The biggest news story of the day has got to be Capital Councillor Clive Doucet suggesting that the costs of the strike aren't justified by what is being fought over (namely a new scheduling method that would reportedly bring $3.4M in operating-cost savings and $12M in capital-cost savings). According to the Ottawa Citizen:

“It’s lunacy,” said Mr. Doucet. “It should not have come to a strike.”

He said that 250,000 transit riders in the city are being hurt by the strike and businesses are seeing sales fall at a time when they should be booming. He said citizens have been pleading with him for the city to do something to end the strike.

Other headlines from today:

• Ottawa police are reporting that the increased traffic resultant from the transit strike is a risk to public safety, according to the Citizen. Given the gridlock, police have had difficulty responding and arriving to emergencies, and ambulances may have difficulty navigating the traffic to respond to health emergencies.
  
• According to CBC.ca, the city is cracking down on illegal 'underground' taxis that are frequenting carpool websites, stating that it's a public safety issue. Users of the taxis say that they're easier to get because not everyone knows about them, and they're cheaper.
• Once again from CBC.ca, "poor kids" might not get as many presents from the Salvation Army's Toy Mountain campaign, because their parents will likely have difficulty getting to depots to pick them up. Combined with a shortage of volunteers able to get to posts, it seems the Salvation Army is going to be hard-hit by the work stoppage.
• The Ottawa Citizen poses the question of Andre Cornellier: Confrontational zealot, or hero of the working class? (In slightly less hyperbolic terms.) I ask: Can't it be both?
• Still on Cornellier, there are conflicting reports about reasons for his unavailability to media: 'A' News is saying that he will "only speak to media that reports favorably to the union", while CBC.ca is stating that it's because he's received "significant threats". I ask: Can't it be both?
  

A call for calm

Reports on CBC.ca have said that the largely unpopular president of the ATU Andre Cornellier has received "significant threats" against his person as a result of his position in the ongoing labour dispute with the City of Ottawa, and word-of-mouth rumours state that a group has been threatening physical assault on bus drivers and that picketers were 'egged' while protesting earlier today. Even on this blog, violence is being approached as a reasonable measure during counter-protests, whether jokingly or not.

I would like to remind anyone and everyone that these are not the responses of rational individuals. It's a fact that no one is enjoying the work stoppage, and it is certainly very inconvenient--and in some cases, potentially dangerous to an individual's health--for everyone, but the right to strike is an inalienable right Canadians have to make. Whether or not you agree with the Union or whether you're on the side of the city, I ask that you make your voice heard in an intelligent manner: Comment on public forums, such as this blog; write a letter or e-mail to your city councillor expressing your opinion; write a Letter to the Editor in a local paper; speak civilly to protesters or stage peaceful counter-protests.

There are many ways to express disagreement or solidarity without having to resort to violence, and they will be more effective in getting your point across.

FAQ on the City's redefinition of scheduling

On the OC Transpo's official website as well as Mayor Larry O'Brien's blog, head of Ottawa's transit services Alain Mercier sent a letter to president of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 279 Andre Cornellier offering a clarification of the 'redefinition of work' contained in the City's most recent offer submitted to end the strike. In the letter, Mercier explains that there is no 'block booking' in the contract, and that workers will still be able to select preferred routes and days off based on seniority. Here is the majority of the letter--including a number of questions drivers may be asking regarding the offer as well as the city's response--for anyone interested in reading (click the link above to read the entire letter):

What’s wrong with the way Operators book their work today?

Except for Operators who work on Straights, most Operators combine separate work pieces into workdays. No one can predict how this may play out. While senior Operators mostly pick Straights and Long Straights (20 to 23 years of seniority on average), the junior Operators are mostly left with Short 6’s and Long 6’s (1 year of seniority on average), which means they only get 2 days off every two weeks, whether they like it or not.

Some senior Operators pick to make the most out of guarantees, booking a minimum number of hours worked for a maximum number of hours paid. Other Operators end up with schedules that are not attractive to them: too few paid hours a day, long splits between pieces, long travel time (for reliefs on the street). Others turn to the spare board without knowing what each day will look like. Others yet book hours beyond what ought to be safe.

This is judged as unfair, unsafe and inefficient by management.

What does management propose to change?

Management proposes to organize the separate work pieces into workdays before they go to the board at Bookings, just like it does for Saturdays and Sundays. For workdays with a split, an Operator who picks a morning piece would have to take the afternoon piece with which it was already combined.

Clauses do exist in the Collective Agreement to allow this approach under Mixed Odd Work rules for weekends.

Is that “block booking”?

No. Block booking combines work pieces, work days and days off into a week’s worth of scheduled work (for example, Monday morning, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday off, etc.).

In management’s proposal, Operators would still pick their work schedule for days separately, including days off, and thus make up their own workweek.

We believe it is unfair to your members to define the proposal as Block Booking and as you are well aware there are no references to this concept on the bargaining table.

Is management proposing to take away the Operators’ seniority rights?

No. Management’s proposal would not stop Operators from being able to pick their preferred routes, the shifts they work and the days of the week they have off. They would still be able to do this based on their seniority.

How would Operators benefit from management’s proposal?

By having management organize the workdays that go on the board at Bookings, it becomes possible:

• for Operators to build for themselves:
• more consistent work schedules (no one left with too little work time in a day);
• a 3rd day off every two weeks for those who were doing mostly Short 6’s;
• a 4-day week for those who decide to pick 10-hour work days.
• and for management to set up:
• guaranteed minimum recovery time between trips;
• guaranteed eight (8) hours of rest in a row in every 24-hour period;
• much reduced unpaid travel time between runs (relief on the street).

What if I had a preference for a certain type of schedule?

In management’s proposal, the different types of runs would actually increase, there would still be a spare board and Operators could still pick their preferred work schedules, by seniority.

[…]

Would management’s proposal increase the spread of my workday?

The maximum spread would not exceed 13.5 hours (12 hours on weekend days), just like today. For some types of runs, the number of hours worked (and paid) would increase within the spread. That is how some Operators could book an extra day off for themselves, if they’d like. In all cases, management would guarantee 8 consecutive hours of rest in every 24-hour period.

How would the choice of runs be different from what it is today?

Management simulated a Booking using your member’s preferences from the September 2008

Booking and including the new approach to scheduling. The results showed that the various straight runs (short, long, 10-hour, etc.) would add up to 50% compared to 54% today.

Similarly, the Short 6’s would go from 11% down to 3% while the number of Long 6 would increase from 6% to 18%.

How would management’s proposal affect Operators’ time when they are not driving?

Management would guarantee minimum recovery times between trips. Management’s proposal would also greatly reduce Operators’ travel time (for reliefs on the street). In the same mock Booking that management looked at, the unpaid travel time was more than 1 hour only 7% of the time, compared to 27% of the time today. It was less than 30 minutes 42% of the time, compared to 22% today. We were also able to better control recovery points for access to washrooms/meal facilities by putting more pieces together. We believe this would greatly improve the quality of life for the majority of Operators.

Talks break off, transit strike seems likely

The Ottawa Sun is the first mainstream news source to report that talks between the city and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) that represents the OC Transpo drivers and support workers have broken off. According to the story, the City's most recent offer "wasn't good enough":

“We’re far part on a certain issues. They are very important to us and I guess they are very important to them,” said Andre Cornellier, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union local.

[...]

The main points are scheduling, contracting out work and, when it comes right down to it, respect and dignity said Cornellier.

On his blog, Mayor Larry O'Brien discussed the possibility of a transit strike, and also the difficulty presented with trying to reward City-paid staff while also being fiscally responsible.

"We have hard working and professional drivers. In conversations with them I believe all concerned think the city’s financial offer is fair, so the question is why would there be a strike? What is the disagreement? The City takes its responsibility in public transit very seriously. We have to.

"There are a number of non-financial issues at the heart of the current negotiations. Without going into details one of the issues is about our management having the tools to improve operations of the transit system such as control of shift management and employee scheduling.

"Without these important tools the City loses much of the flexibility we need to manage the system in an economically efficient manner.

[...]

"It is always hard to find the balance between rewarding the drivers for outstanding service and looking after the interests of taxpayers."

As I understand it, one of those "important tools" that O'Brien alludes to is the freedom to contract out work when deemed appropriate.

As it stands now, though, it appears there will be strike beginning at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday morning.