We should know by the weekend whether GO Transit employees
support the latest tentative agreement -- reached last Friday --
and perhaps a bit longer to hear if the agency’s board of
directors also approves. Bus drivers and other GO employees
surprised many by voting down the previous deal -- despite its
recommendation by their own executive committee. Union leader
Denis Tanham may have been directing his comments solely to his
members when he declared of the recent agreement: "We seem to
have gotten everything we requested."
While most GO bus riders just want to know their commute is
safe, others may wonder how much the provincial agency conceded
to avoid a strike. It will take time to know the details of a
final contract, but some of the issues hammered out in these
recent negotiations could influence other upcoming contract
talks.
GTA transit systems and their workers will look to the GO deal
for possible precedents, including wage rates. The bargaining
process is set to begin soon at the TTC, where driver pay has
been a long-standing irritant in labour relations.
A reader from Burlington wrote me last week; “I love taking
public transit for so many reasons, but I also have to depend on
it. My commute takes me on GO and TTC and it infuriates me to
have to worry about strike threats, walkouts, and other
‘negotiating’ tactics several times a year. Aren't they here to
serve us, the commuters?”
My sense is that many GO workers have been on fairly good terms
with supervisors and management, which makes me wonder why
completing this contract has been so tough. From what I can
tell, the average attitude toward customers among GO bus drivers
and ticket-sellers indicates they generally like their jobs. And
yet the strong repudiation of the first two negotiated deals
opened the possibility of their first strike in 30 years.
By comparison, the relationship between workers and managers at
the TTC has been much rockier, and points to greater workplace
dissatisfaction. Does this mean further labour uncertainty for
Toronto commuters this year? I worry the answer is yes.
If so, expect renewed calls to declare transit an essential
service, thereby making strikes illegal. At least in the case of
GO, this would be tricky. The commuter trains are operated and
maintained by union members who work for private sector
companies -- not for the transit agency. And even if legislation
could somehow keep them on the job, there’s the prevailing
wisdom that essential workers tend to be paid more once they
lose the right to strike.
Should we pay higher fares for greater certainty? Tell me what
you think.