The war between the City and the Transit Union
May 1st, 2007 posted by CanprideThe war between the Calgary City and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 583 is heating up. Now the contract differences have been taken to new extremes with ads in the paper and a he-did-it-first-so-I’m doing-it-back response.
Since June 2006, the 2400 members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 583 have worked without a contract. While negotiations are stalemated, with each side blaming the other, it a an ad placed by the city in local newspapers that has created the current uproar.
According to the article in Calgary Sun, Mike Mahar, president of Local 583 claims the ad is misleading, implying that the union is to blame.
“They still have a number of concessions on the table, but the way they’ve worded the ad is that it’s the union that rejected the latest offer.”
Not so, according to Mahar. The city turned down the union’s counter offer. Vickie Megrath, city spokesperson, disagrees.
“We have a responsibility to share information with our employees, transit users and the taxpayers of Calgary and this ad was a way to let them know what the city is offering.”
Although Megrath does acknowledge that the union did make a counter offer.
So in retaliation to the city’s ad, the union will responding with an ad of their own.
And what is this huge gulf of differences over? Primarily wages. The transit workers are asking for three 5% pay raises over 30 months. The city is willing to go one 3% increase followed by two 3.5 % increases. Other issues include shuttle buses and seniority.
Other unions working with city contracts are rallying behind their transit union fellows.
Peter Marsden, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 38, adds
“It just seems like the city treats us like indentured servants.”
While the Local 38 is locked in to their contract until 2009, nothing forbids them from showing their support of Local 583.
Calgary Herald Newspaper Ads: April 28, 2007 and April 30, 2007
So what’s the city’s next move?
May 2nd, 2007 at 10:45 pm
[…] 10,000 parents are struggling and worrying, not to mention the 2400 union workers involved with the transit contract dispute, how about all the other employees of various local businesses that would not have a way to […]
May 3rd, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Peter Marsden, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 38, adds
“It just seems like the city treats us like indentured servants.”
Peter needs to tone down the drama a bit. Indentured servants were legally considered property to be bought and sold. They were legally bound to their employer in order to repay the cost of bringing them to a new country.
Indentured servants generally received no pay whatsoever, and had incurred costs of food and lodging deducted from their repayment schedule at the discretion of their owner and employer.
Indentured servants most certainly did not receive vacation pay, bereavement pay, overtime pay, EAP benefits, medical, dental, etc, etc, etc while wearing free uniforms and sitting down in a climate controlled environment.
Comparing the benefits of overpaid, undereducated transit workers to the plight of indentured servitude is nothing less than insulting. The 70 pages of contract concessions the City is making to an already generous contract should make this abundantly clear.
This is simple greed, inflated by a sense of unearned entitlement. While indentured servants were certainly held hostage by their employers, the transit employees are intending to do nothing less to the Calgary taxpayer by witholding their services in a strike.
May 16th, 2007 at 10:19 am
get rid of unions, nothing but problems, so many people out there would love to have these jobs, I vote no more unions.