Winnipeg, MB – The City of Winnipeg is encouraging the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1505 (ATU) to get back to the negotiating table to continue collective bargaining between the parties. The City has made themselves available at any time next week, but ATU has not agreed to any further negotiating dates.
The items that ATU proposed would equate to an increase of more than 8% each year over the next four years of their contract and the City does not feel this type of increase would be a responsible use of taxpayer's money. This includes a 2.75% general wage increase each year of their proposed four year contract.
“Our concern is that ATU is extending negotiations in order to initiate strike actions in September when they know it will be most disruptive to passengers and residents,” said Dave Wardrop, Chief Transportation & Utilities Officer. “We want to get back to the table and get a resolution so that there is no service disruption for those who rely on Transit services.”
The City’s last offer, presented on July 3, 2019, focused on keeping wages and benefits for ATU employees in line with those accepted over the past two years by the City’s other Unions with proposed wage increases. To address concerns raised by ATU, the City moved on a number of ATU’s requests and removed the proposed introduction of flexible spare operators to ATU’s staffing complement.
“The main issue surrounding negotiations is the cost of the final agreement,” said Wardrop. “Every other Union has been able to look at the big picture and has been able to negotiate new contracts that were fair and reasonable for their membership, as well as taxpayers. We hope that ATU recognizes all the investment that is being made into Winnipeg Transit, and be part of the solution. Wage and benefit increases of 8% annually is just not sustainable.”
Over the past two years, the City of Winnipeg has made significant investment into Winnipeg Transit with nearly $20 million being invested into safety enhancements alone. The City is also making an investment of $2.28 million to install LTE technology across the entire Transit bus fleet to provide capability for video streaming to aid with bus safety, increase bus location accuracy to improve real-time scheduling and incident response, as well other benefits for passengers and bus operators.
“The City of Winnipeg believes that it is more responsible to balance reasonable wage and benefit improvements with investments in the Transit system that benefit Winnipeg Transit employees and passengers alike,” said Wardrop.