Bronconnier’s Money Woes
April 22nd, 2007 posted by Crepehanger
As a Calgary transit worker strike looms in our very near future, Mayor Bronconnier is drowning in budget talk. The transit workers’ union was unimpressed with the offer of increases totaling 12% over 36 months. Their message was clear – 15% over 30 months or strike. That wasn’t good news for Bronconnier. Follow that with the provincial budget being announced and the Mayor had serious money troubles.
The Mayor feels the budget doesn’t live up to the promises Stelmach had made particularly regarding the LRT. That can’t make dealing with the transit union any easier. Bronconnier also sees the budget as being unfairly slanted away from the municipal areas.
Mayor Bronconnier isn’t alone in his feelings about the budget. Members of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce gave Finance Minister Lyle Oberg their opinions of the budget Friday night. With spending plans almost a fifth higher than last year, the businessmen whose companies will be carrying the heaviest burden are not pleased.
The business community fears spending more money rather than more wisely managing money will only result in larger tax bills with fewer benefits. Oberg’s rebuttal that it isn’t possible to please everyone came across as insincere and a more than a little trite.
News Source - Calgary Sun and Calgary Herald
Is it just a case of sour grapes or is the provincial budget too “provincial”? Has Stelmach forgotten where the majority of the tax money is coming from? What are your transportation plans for the strike?
April 30th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I’m a driver of both C-train and Bus and want to give my 2 cents. I’m going to vote to strike and I’ll explain why.
Read on. It is not about the money. If the strike does happen, it will not be because of a 1% difference between the City and Union’s positions on wages. Working Conditions are more important. There are 3 main issues and any one of them in themselves are enough to cause a strike in themselves:
1. City has put in an order for 12 Eldorado EZ Rider II shuttles. At this time Community Shuttle is a different position that pays $14.85 (city is offering $17 in the new deal). Transit Operators operate both LRT (C-train) and BUS and make a top rate of $23.85 (city’s offer will put them somewhere between $26-$28 depending on which vehicle they drive mostly).
The Shuttles that are used now are Crestline and require only a class 5 licence and have no airbrakes. These new Shuttle buses that the City has ordered have a seating capacity of 24 and full load of 60, they have a ramp and kneel just like regular Low Floor Buses, and don’t have a back door but that can be put in on any weekend (CT has all the in house capability to do it).
The Eldorado Shuttle is 30 feet long. Conventional Buses are 40 feet long and have max loads of up to 80 people. Several things come up out of this purchase of 12 Eldorado Shuttles: -Existing Shuttle Operators will be forced to drive a vehicle which for all intensive purposes is a Conventional full sized bus and NOT get paid for it and will be paid the ’shuttle wage’. Transit Operators who drive bus might have their runs converted to shuttle runs.
As per the previous collective agreements, Shuttle Buses are only to be used in areas with low ridership, where the road network cannot accomodate a full sized bus, and if ridership increases to more then what a Shuttle can handle then it has to be converted to conventional bus operation.
There is nothing limiting the % of shuttles v.s. % of Bus in the overall operation.
If this purchase happens then bus runs can and will be cut and converted to shuttles. The city will give the work to shuttle drivers who will make close to 10 dollars less an hour. Only a Shuttle Operator can operate a shuttle. For the 300-400 least junior Transit Operators this can be a matter of job elimination or job security. For Shuttle Operators, many of them don’t want to drive a full sized bus and get paid less. If they wanted to drive a real bus they would be applying to become Transit Operator. This issue is the single major thing bringing a strike vote.
Solution is simple: either cancel the order or make it so that there is only one type of Operator and everyone gets paid the same to drive any type of BUS (Edmonton has this system).
2. There are about 1400 Transit Operators. Most drive just Bus. 150 Drive C-train and about half of them are cross-trained for both. City has offered C-train Operators 5%/6%/7% on top of what is offered to all Transit Operators over a 3 year period. They want to also hire externally for c-train and only require a class 5 licence for those candidates.
Right now if no one can be found willing to do it then the most junior bus drivers are FORCED to do it. This new system will be worse then the current system. Right now anyone that likes and wants to stay can stay.
What will happen is drivers who want to get trained and top off their pension before retirement (those with 20+ years in) will work for 4 months before retirement. This will force people OFF who like c-train and their chance of ever getting back on depends purely on seniority. This is not fair. How does someone who only has 3 years in compete with 70 year old people some of whom are nearing or even exceeding 40 years service?
When this extra money is thrown at c-train the way the City is proposing then this is exactly what will happen with all the senior bus drivers flocking to c-train just to top off their pension because pensions are an average of your ‘best 5 years’.
Solution here is leaving things the way they are as well as they can make it more attractable to people by offering better shifts and less starting at one end of town and ending in another, which is why many people leave C-train to return to Bus.
3. The City gave an ‘out of schedule’ increase of 10% to Mechanics and other trades awhile ago. They gave this raise to keep the people that they have. The City wants to roll it back at a different date. The union and those trades people that it went to would like to make it a permanant raise that cannot be rolled back and want it in writing.
As for the city’s ‘highlights’ here is a response from ATU 583:
http://www.atu583.com/Resources/resources.htm
April 30th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Wow, this is a nice comment but could you tell me please who is going to drive my children’s to school during the strike? I don’t have a car and I also have to get to work somehow.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:33 am
Single Mother with 3 Children,
I honestly don’t know who. City has a plan to have management drive limited amout of trains. It will be not be enough for the demand that people will put on it. I’m not expecting any buses to be out there. All train and bus mechanics and trades people are union members and will strike too if the vote goes that way on May 3. Phoning the Mayor or your Alderman and telling them to cancel the purchase of these Eldorado Shuttle buses will help. I honestly believe that if they cancel their order a strike can be avoided. This is the one issue that most union members can’t accept. It is going to eliminate jobs for many conventional bus drivers over the long-term.
May 10th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
[…] of the reason the union has been in disagreement with the city is over the addition of shuttle buses. The union foresees bus drivers losing routes to these shuttles (who can transport almost as many […]
June 2nd, 2007 at 10:42 am
[…] the city’s offer, the issue of shuttle buses wasn’t dealt with. The union will file grievances when the time comes. In the meanwhile, here we […]
June 3rd, 2007 at 1:20 pm
[…] for the issue of the shuttlebuses… that was swept off the table in order to get a deal to go through. The issue will certainly […]