Acadian Coach Lines drivers in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island were locked out early Friday, stranding travellers across the region at the start of a weekend as the holiday travel season approaches.

While the action is centred on N.B. and P.E.I., the effects will be felt in Quebec and Nova Scotia as well.

The move came after the company received notice from the Amalgamated Transit Union that employees were planning to strike.

“We regret to inform you that our service in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island will therefore be interrupted,” the company said on its website.

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A striking York Region Transit worker was struck by a vehicle while walking a picket line in Richmond Hill on Thursday morning.

Ray Doyle, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587, said the worker wasn’t seriously injured in the collision, which occurred in the bus loop at Richmond Hill Centre.

Doyle said the worker was hit by a car driven by a person who was trying to force his or her way through the picket line.

He said the car’s driver remained at the scene.

York Regional Police officers were called to the scene, but it’s not known if any charges will be laid.

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MONCTON, N.B. – Acadian Lines says it will shut down its intercity bus service in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island on Friday after its workers threatened to go on strike.

The Amalgamated Transit Union has given strike notice to the company, saying its members are set to walk off the job at 6:30 a.m. Friday.

Acadian Lines responded by giving a lockout notice to the workers.

The company says operations in the two provinces will cease at 6:30 a.m. Friday.

Company official Marc-Andre Varin says the company decided to cease operations rather than have any passengers stranded on a moment’s notice due to the labour dispute.

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OTTAWA — Garry Queale, president of the union that represents OC Transpo bus drivers, has squelched reports that his members might walk off the job in a wild cat strike.

“We don’t plan to walk off the job at this point,” he said Thursday evening when asked about news reports that the union had threatened a work stoppage.

However, the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 279, also said that other forms of job action are being considered, although wouldn’t specify what those actions might be.

According to Queale, working conditions are especially “poisonous” following the firing earlier this week of a driver who swore and threatened a slightly autistic teenage passenger, but tensions between the union and transit management have been worsening for some time.

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The good rapport that’s been building between the City and the bus driver’s union is no more, according to Amalgamated Transit Union President Gary Queale.

He believes any ground gained in repairing relations between the two sides is fading fast.

“The morale is starting to go down again and it’s very unfortunate,” Queale tells CFRA. “We’ve had the mayor out to different garages and people have seen him out there and said ‘Well good, let’s get something rolling here.’ Morale is starting to pick up and all of a sudden we get a couple of issues where we get kicked in the teeth again.”

OC Transpo is budgeting $5.5 million to add extra capacity on routes, starting in January, but Queale says the money is needed now.

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GO bus riders can breathe a sigh of relief — a strike has been averted — but a walkout by York Region Transit workers began early Monday.

Metrolinx, GO Transit’s parent company, said late Sunday that it had reached a tentative agreement with the Amalgamated Transit Union.

Metrolinx said details of the tentative agreement would not be released until the deal is ratified.

However, York Region Transit workers hit the picket lines early Monday, affecting dozens of routes operated by companies contracted to supply service.

They include Miller Transit’s 51 routes in Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan and 29 operated by First Transit in northern York Region.

About 340 employees represented by Amalgamated Transit Union 1587 are affected by the walkout. About 220 Viva drivers represented by ATU Local 113 also walked off the job, shuttering service on five express routes.

Toronto City Councillor Doug Ford said the labour disruption in York Region is proof that his brother, Mayor Rob Ford, did the right thing in getting the province to take away the right to strike from Toronto transit workers.

“Thank God that Rob made TTC an essential service because we aren’t facing the problems that all the other folks are facing today, “ he said Monday morning.

Union leader Bob Kinnear has said wages are the sticking point and he has called on York Region legislators to step in and help settle the issue.

“Our members here are making seven dollars an hour less than transit workers doing essentially the same jobs in surrounding communities. This is a massive wage gap,” said Mr. Kinnear.

“These companies are shipping millions in taxpayer-funded profits out of the country. It makes no economic sense for the residents of York Region, but that’s privatization for you.”

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A Monday transit strike seems more likely with the rejection of an offer by transit workers this afternoon.
YRT bus drivers and maintenance staff, represented by Amalgamated Transit Union 1587, rejected offers from two contractors, Miller Transit and First Student Canada.

“It was not unexpected, but certainly disappointing,” First Student spokesperson Maureen Richmond said.

Miller is responsible for YRT routes in the region’s southeast, including Markham and Richmond Hill, while First Student is responsible for the north, including Newmarket and Georgina.  Unless a last-minute deal is reached, about 250 transit employees will be on strike Monday morning.

“We’d like to continue negotiations because we’d like to get a resolution,” Ms Richmond said.

Two more important transit contracts are also being negotiated.  About 1,500 GO workers are also set to walk off the job Monday. Bus service would be affected, but train service would continue.

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TORONTO, Oct. 17, 2011 /CNW/ – Negotiations for new collective agreements covering employees of York Region Transit contractors Miller Transit and First Student are reaching a critical phase as the strike deadline of Monday, October 24 approaches.

“We expect an offer from both companies tomorrow,” says Ray Doyle, President of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587, “but we’re not holding our breath that they will be acceptable, given what we have seen so far from management.”

Doyle says that the offers will be put to a membership vote on Wednesday but declined to say whether or not the union would be recommending their acceptance.

“We’ll have to see what’s in the package before we give a recommendation. Our members are the lowest-paid in the industry in the GTA, by far, and there has to be some real movement towards equity for an offer to be acceptable.”

If the offer is turned down, the union will call a strike as of 12:01 a.m. next Monday. It is possible that one group could accept and the other reject their respective settlements but Doyle does not expect that to happen.

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Go Transit bus service will grind to a halt in fewer than three weeks unless the union representing drivers and other workers can reach a new collective agreement with regional transit agency Metrolinx.

Local 1587 of the Amalgamated Transit Union said Wednesday that it has set Oct. 24 as its strike date.

“We will continue to negotiate,” union local president Ray Doyle told CBC News. “But rest assured that the members have given very strong strike mandates … and are prepared to walk off the job if negotiated settlements are not reached in their favour.”

The local represents 1,530 workers at Metrolinx, the transit agency for the Greater Toronto Area. That includes 650 Go Transit bus drivers as well as station attendants, service personnel, safety officers and clerical staff.

In a statement, Metrolinx said it remains “optimistic that an agreement will be reached.”

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The union representing more than 1,500 GO Transit workers could announce a new strike date as early as Wednesday afternoon – and employees could be off the job by the end of the month.

“Later this afternoon, early this evening, I will be announcing a strike date — and it will be for this month,” ATU Local 1587 union president Ray Doyle told CityNews.ca.

A strike would affect GO bus passengers, as well as those who use York Region Transit (YRT).

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587 also represents workers who operate and maintain YRT buses for Miller Transit and First Student Canada. Miller Transit operates buses on 51 routes in Markham, Richmond Hill, Whitchurch-Stouffville and parts of Vaughan that handle 16,000 daily rides.

“Right at the moment, I have negotiation dates set with Metrolinx, First Student [Canada] and Miller Transit. I’ve had very high strike mandates from each of those groups,” Doyle added.

Doyle said the public will have “ample” notice before employees walk off the job. Last year, GO Transit carried about 57 million passengers between Toronto and outlying areas like Peterborough, Kitchener, Niagara Falls and Barrie. On a typical weekday, GO buses alone transport 37,000 riders.

“The issue with Metrolinx is that we had an essential services agreement (ESA) we agreed to in March,” he said. “On August 30, Metrolinx cancelled two negotiations dates we had set up for September. On September 6, they no longer agreed to ESA. Everybody knows it was politically motivated — to prevent us from striking during the election campaign.”

The Ontario Labour Board (OLB) ruled Tuesday the union has a legal strike agreement with Metrolinx.

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