By LAURA FRASER
The union that represents Metro Transit employees says the municipality’s latest contract offer could privatize Access-A-Bus, with the potential for more than 50 job cuts and a spike in fares for those who use the door-to-door service.
A private company cannot depend on public subsidies that keep the transit system running, said Ken Wilson, president of Local 508 of the Amalgamated Transit Union. That means the cost of doing business would have to be recovered elsewhere, he said.
“I don’t know what a taxi costs to take (someone in a) wheelchair or a disabled person down to the hospital. But they’ll probably charge a lot more than $2.25.”
The local has voted more than 98 per cent in favour of rejecting the municipality’s Jan. 12 offer. They can go on strike by Feb. 2 if a deal cannot be reached.
Wilson said there are now plans to go back to the bargaining table from Sunday to Tuesday.
Metro Transit employees walked the picket line for five weeks in 1998 over similar issues, Wilson said. The municipality wanted to include a provision in that contract that would let them outsource maintenance services, but it later relented.
Shaune MacKinlay, a municipal spokeswoman, would not discuss the terms of the offer or confirm whether city hall plans to privatize any transit services.
The union alleges the municipality’s offer would let them outsource any departments that are not part of the regular transit schedule, which means maintenance and the ferry service may also be affected.
“Anything that has been part of our contract offer to the union is not something we’re discussing publicly,” MacKinlay said. “We’d be happy to talk to the union’s bargaining team and have indicated that we’re willing to go back to the table.”
The contract offer amounted to four per cent over two years, but Wilson said job security emerged as the primary concern among the union members. More than 200 people could lose their jobs if all “irregular” services were outsourced, he said.
Wilson said he is hopeful that an agreement can be reached before the strike deadline. And with the municipal election coming up in October, Wilson said he hopes the politicians look more closely at what privatization could mean for the disabled passengers who use the Access-A-Bus service for the same fare as traditional bus routes.
“Twenty-three councillors are gunning for 16 positions; they should be worried,” Wilson said. “Council negotiates their wage, we don’t. So let’s get back to the table and try and get a deal done.”