Bus disruptions continue in Saskatoon as transit contract dispute drags on

The ongoing contract dispute between the city of Saskatoon and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) is leading to more transit disruptions for users.

The city warned riders Tuesday to expect full buses and delays as the city tries to operate with limited resources.

This has resulted in the following for Nov. 15:

• Route 4 Kenderdine may experience heavy ridership around 9:22 a.m.
• Route 6 Market Mall via Preston Avenue may experience heavy ridership between 7:47 a.m. and 8:48 a.m.
• Route 13 Lawson Heights/Broadway may experience heavy ridership between 7:57 a.m. and 8:32 a.m.
• Route 17 Stonebridge may experience heavy ridership between 7:54 a.m. and 8:24 a.m.
• Route 21 University via Reid Road and Central Avenue may experience heavy ridership around 7:55 a.m.
• Route 40 and 45 via Berini Drive and Webster Street may experience heavy ridership between 7:28 a.m. and 8:43 a.m.
• Route 50 Lakeview via Mckertcher Drive and Heritage Crescent may experience heavy ridership around 7:29 a.m.
• Route 55 Lakeridge via Mckercher Drive and Heritage Crescent may experience heavy ridership around 7:42 a.m. and 8:12 a.m.

The transit union has been directing members to refuse overtime since Saturday negotiations on a new collective agreement at a standstill.

Saskatoon Transit workers have been without a contract since 2012.

The main sticking point in the talks are pension benefits.
 
The city said it will issue alerts about service disruptions as the information is made available.

Latest offer ‘fair and reasonable’: city

Mayor Charlie Clark and council are taking a firm position on city’s contract dispute with the transit union.

After discussing the issue behind closed doors Monday, Clark said he and council are united that the city’s latest contract offer to transit workers is “fair and reasonable.”

“We feel that this is a very fair offer, and in fact this is probably the most transit-friendly council the city has ever seen,” Clark said Tuesday on the Brent Loucks Show, adding the city is pouring millions into infrastructure to improve the transit system.

“I’m not sure why we’re fighting at this point, but it creates a lot of uncertainty for the transit users.”

Clark noted progress has been made on a number of the union’s concerns, but the city won’t accept the ATU’s pension proposal because it jeopardizes agreements negotiated with the city’s eight other unions.

“We just want to appeal to this union and to the transit membership to work with us on the big issues that are facing transit … and that we don’t need to keep fighting about this one aspect of the pension agreement.”

The union said job action will continue until an arbitrator is allowed to rule on the legality of the pension changes in the city’s proposal.

Around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the ATU posted a video update to Facebook expressing their side of the issue.