Melissa Sundardas
Staff Writer
After York transit drivers and mechanics went on strike at 4 a.m. Monday October 24, commuting students and staff who depend on York Region Transit (YRT) and Viva buses are frustrated and unsure about how they’ll be getting around.
The strike occurred after unions representing 560 drivers and mechanics rejected the offers presented to them and were unable to reach an agreement with management.
“We sympathize with the people of York Region who rely on public transit, particularly the students, because we recognize in York Region that they are a huge percentage of riding public,” says Bob Kinnear, president of the ATU Local 113. Routes that stop at York University account for a total of 3,224 daily YRT/Viva boardings.
Kinnear says despite the circumstances, they “unfortunately cannot continue to allow these profitable corporations to make their profits off the backs of our workers.”
Kinnear says that as of now, he does not know how long the strike will last. No new talks have been scheduled.
In 2008, YRT/Viva workers were at the picket lines for two weeks.
Kinnear says the strike may resolve itself in the next two weeks or so if councillors in York Region encourage private corporations to relinquish more of their profits to pay their employees accordingly.
“If that does not occur and it’s left up to the contractors to come forward, we would anticipate a long strike,” he says.
Christopher Monzon, a third-year philosophy student, says the strike has definitely thrown off his travel plans to get to school.
“Now instead of only taking just one bus system to get to York, I need to also take the TTC so I’m paying close to $12 just to get to school and back,” says Monzon. “Those who have to pay as much as I do, or come from further away, will probably be less motivated to come to school during the strike.”
Other York students who rely on YRT and Viva buses say they’re going to have to take a cab, get rides, or carpool to get to and from campus while the strike goes on.
“The point we’re trying to make […] is that you’ve got corporations that are more interested in profits than they are in delivering public transit and ensuring that their employees are appropriately compensated,” says Kinnear.
He points out that York Region bus drivers make seven dollars less per hour than those in other GTA areas.
“We recognize that in one round of bargaining you can’t suddenly negotiate seven dollars an hour increases, benefits and all that,” he expands. “What we’re trying to do though—and we’re not ashamed to say it—we want to make very minimal changes like establishing a couple of sick days for these employees, establishing working conditions where they don’t have to work 16 hours spreads, little things like that.”
According to Kinnear, picket lines have not yet been established because the union’s current objective is to bring public attention to what York Region’s representatives are doing to deliver and administrate public transit.
Another reason as to why no picketers have taken to the streets yet, he says, is because it would divert public attention from the lack of talks and would make the public “be focused on picket line disruptions and confrontations.”
“[York Region’s councillors] would love nothing more than for us to have picket lines at Finch, disrupting traffic flow and all those sorts of things […] so that’s one of the reasons why we have not got the picket lines out there,” explains Kinnear. “If the strike continues, obviously we will have to escalate our presence out there. We do not want to compound the problem by increasing obstacles for people to get around—not at this point ant time, but at some point, yes, we will have to escalate our presence.”
Signs informing commuters about the strike and about which routes have been affected are posted all over bus shelters and bus stop posts at the YRT and Viva bus loop by Vanier College.
YRT Routes 3/3B, 10, and 20 will still run to and from campus. YRT route 22A and Viva routes Orange North and Southbound and Purple are also affected by the strike and will not operate.
YRT, Viva, and Mobility Plus routes operated by Veolia employees will continue to run in the southwest area of York Region where some TTC bus routes also operate.
On the other hand, GO Transit’s union—ATU Local 1587—and Metrolinx reached a tentative deal late night Sunday. GO bus workers will now need to vote on whether to accept or reject the offer, but as of now, all GO Transit services are running regularly.
