Union approves binding arbitration, strike officially over

Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 279 voted 95 per cent in favour of binding arbitration to settle the current contract dispute, according to The Canadian Press. The vote comes one day after City Council voted unanimously to accept arbitration.

So, although it was expected to be a minor technicality, the strike is now officially over, and O-Train service is expected to resume on Monday, Feb. 2, 2009. Although bus service is expected to return Monday, Feb. 9. there are rumblings of it being possible for some buses to return on Thursday, Feb. 4 (TransitOttawa will keep you posted on that possibility).

Parliament plays poker: McGregor

If you want to read about the negotiations in the halls of Parliament that effectively forced the City and ATU 279 to reach a deal before they could be legislated back to work, look no further than Ottawa Citizen hill reporter Glen McGregor's story in today's edition.

McGregor conveys a sense of cooperation in the House of Commons that, only eight weeks ago, would have been unforseeable. As far as TransitOttawa.ca can tell, this city's transit strike was the first time this calendar year that all parties on the Hill agreed about anything.

Oh, and you'll have to read the story to get the poker reference. It's all about bluffing and calling bluffs. Real dramatic stuff.

O-Train might open early next week, bus follows week later

The Ottawa Citizen is reporting that the city's O-Train might be running again as early as Feb. 2, and buses will potentially be back on the road on the following Monday, Feb. 9.

OC Transpo general manager Alain Mercier announced several incentives designed to lure riders back quickly, the paper said, including:

• Letting riders use passes from December in February,
• Free weekend service, and
• Free rides for seniors on Wednesdays

The system will be running at 80 per cent capacity when buses start rolling.

Questions for readers

Readers,

TransitOttawa.ca has some questions to ask in the immediate aftermath of the now-concluded OC Transpo workers strike.

If the transit strike forced you to find alternate arrangements to commute to work or school and just get around in general, will you just as soon return to public transit?

If not, what will it take for you to again ride the bus? Can the city offer any short-term and/or long-term incentives to lure you back?

Strike news and reaction on Rogers TV

Yours truly will be representing TransitOttawa on Rogers TV's (cable 22 in Ottawa) Talk Ottawa program tonight (Friday) at 6:00 p.m. tonight. Here is the press release:

The OC Transpo strike is over after 51 days. The City of Ottawa and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 279 have agreed to send all contract issues to binding arbitration without preconditions. Return of transit will begin pending ratification from City Council and ATU Local 279.

Mayor O'Brien has called a special meeting of Council for today, Friday, Jan. 30. Rogers TVwill provide full coverage of this special emergency council meeting beginning at 11 a.m.

Plus, join Rogers TV for a special Talk Ottawa with James Hendricks tonight at 6 p.m. for discussion and reaction to the end of the longest transit strike in the city's history. Executive Director of Public Transit in Ottawa Peter Raaymakers, Ward 4 Kanata North Councillor Marianne Wilkinson and President of the Ottawa and District Labour Council Sean McKenny join James in the studio to take your calls.

Strike over: CTV

From CTV.ca:

The City of Ottawa and the Amalgamated Transit Union have reached a deal that will end a public transit strike that has paralyzed the nation's capital for 51 days.

Both sides have agreed to put the contract dispute to binding arbitration.

More is most certainly to come.

Because of this development, we have cancelled the previously-scheduled TransitOttawa LiveBlog about the Parliamentary discussion and possible back-to-work legislation because, well, there won't be anything to talk about.

Readers: What are your thoughts, now that it's over?

UPDATE: The Citizen adds more depth to the story (emphasis ours):

At a news conference in Mayor Larry O'Brien's office, Mr. O'Brien and union officials André Cornellier and Randy Graham came together to announce that with federal back-to-work legislation seeming inevitable, they decided it was in the interests of Ottawa residents to come to an agreement and get the buses rolling again.

Asked why Ottawa residents had to go through 51 days of suffering before this, they said an agreement simply couldn't be reached without the threat of legislation.

What do readers think of that?

Preliminary service resumption plan

Over at the OC Transpo Livejournal community, one sleuthing poster found OC Transpo's preliminary plan to resume service. It goes like this:

Schedules and route plans are still being finalized, and the number of buses available for service changes each day that the strike continues. The preliminary plan for service is as follows:

Weekdays

Will operate during their regularly scheduled day, including rush hours:

· O-Train
· All school routes, numbered in the 600’s
· Rapid transit routes 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 101, 102 and 106
· Major routes 2, 7, 12, 14, 85, 86 and 118
· Peak employment route 105 · Van route 123
· Early morning routes 824, 825, 830, 835, 837, and 873

Will operate evenings and mid-day only, outside of rush hours:

· Routes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 16, 18, 87, 111, 112, 114, 115, 116 and 117.
· Local black routes numbered 121-178

Will not operate:

· Green express and rural express routes
· Red rush hour routes other than 102 and 105.

Saturday & Sunday:

All routes that normally run on weekends will operate at full service.

Text of Bélanger's request

Ottawa-Vanier Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger requested the debate on ending the transit strike that will take place later tonight (watch for our liveblog).

Below is the text of the official request that Bélanger made in the House a few minutes after 3 p.m. yesterday:

Mr. Speaker, I am asking that you consider allowing us to hold an emergency debate in this House—today or tomorrow, at the latest—to discuss the strike in the national capital region, which began on December 10.

This is the 50th day of a strike that has paralyzed our community and had a negative impact on hundreds of thousands of our citizens. From the beginning of this strike, all members of this House representing an affected riding, no matter their political affiliation, have received hundreds of comments from individuals in truly deplorable situations: students forced to consider quitting school, seniors practically shut in because they no longer have access to public transportation and cannot go anywhere, and small businesses in our community that are suffering greatly.

We believe that it is very important for the government to be fully aware of this rather urgent situation.

The role of the government is twofold. The government has jurisdiction in this instance because this is an interprovincial service that is being offered by OC Transpo. Because it crosses into Quebec, the jurisdiction falls onto the federal government. The government has intervened in this in the sense of forcing a vote but it is important for people to know what the intentions of the government are, if any, in pursuing this matter. People need to know whether there is to be any hope from those where the jurisdiction lies.

The second important reason, which is the one I raised yesterday in the House and which the President of the Treasury Board did not even answer but referred it to a colleague, is that the government is also the employer of tens of thousands of people who are finding it extremely difficult in these circumstances. If we have a day like today, where we have a snowfall, it is almost a permanent gridlock out there and it is affecting everybody.

I believe we should address this and consider options available to the government and consider options that may be brought forward to put pressure on both parties, not taking sides here but taking the side of the population. It would be an important occasion for members of this House, who are concerned and who represent over a million people affected by this, to have the opportunity of putting to the government and for the government to respond, to figure a way out of this situation and figure a way forward for the betterment of conditions for our fellow citizens.

Feds tackle transit: Time for another TransitOttawa.ca liveblog

According to the always-reliable website of the Parliament of Canada, tomorrow's emergency debate regarding the ongoing transit strike (now coming to the end of Day 50) will commence at 6:30 p.m.

Assuming lots of local MPs speak as a means of informing their fellow, less-local members about the ins-and-outs of this strike and its effect on Ottawa residents, our benevolent parliamentarians might well burn some midnight oil.

What does this mean for TransitOttawa.ca? Well, it means we're going to have a long night liveblogging the proceedings. Because we are going to do that. The blog should go live right before debate opens early tomorrow evening.

Ambrose to propose back to work legislation UPDATED (see end of post)

The Ottawa Citizen broke this news minutes ago:

OTTAWA — The House of Commons will take up the question of Ottawa's transit strike in an emergency debate on Thursday night, Speaker Peter Milliken has ordered.

The move came at the request of Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger, who represents Ottawa-Vanier.

There is a lot to say about such a debate. Members of Parliament from across Canada could conceivably enter a debate that concerns a large number of Canadians in a very concentrated location. Perhaps parties will stack their respective allotted times for debate with local MPs, or perhaps not.

Little information is available about the nature of the debate. It could be a take-note debate, wherein no binding votes are taken (similar debates occurred involving Canada's involvement in the mission in Afghanistan).

No matter what, federal politicians of all political colours will enter their opinions into the record, and what they say could have significant consequences for Ottawans.

UPDATE: David Reevely is looking into nature of the debate, according to his Twitter: "Parliament to hold emergency debate on Ottawa transit strike. Working out whether that means more than a gabfest."

UPDATE AGAIN: Apparently this won't be a gabfest. The Citizen and CBC are reporting that labour minister Rona Ambrose will introduce back-to-work legislation that, she hopes, will receive the support of the opposition Liberals.

An Ambrose quotation from the Citizen:

"As of last night, the talks have stalled and they are at a stalemate and it is my belief that when the government sees a situation where there is clearly no compromise or no flexibility being shown by either side to reach an agreement, it is our obligation to act," [Ambrose] told reporters on Parliament Hill. "I'm prepared to act at this time, I'm prepared to introduce back to work legislation. However, I do need the support of the opposition. So I have approached the Liberal Party and asked them for that support. As you know, if we do introduce back-to-work legislation, we will need those votes to pass it in the House."

The Sun reports that NDP MP Paul Dewar was initially reluctant to lend full support to the move.

Dewar said his party would prefer to see Ambrose name an arbitrator - a move that, he says, would halt the strike immediately.

ONE MORE UPDATE: This is straight from one of the Citizen staff who knows more than most, the aforementioned Reevely, as he dictated to Twitter: "Best understanding: Emergency debate on bus strike IS a gabfest; legislation proceeds on a separate track. Maybe faster, probably slower."

So much for federal inaction on the strike. Stay tuned.