Larry O’Brien has written a blog entry asking what is the ATU willing to compromise on. He talks about the negotiations over the last couple of months, including the recent negotiations. The city has changed their offer from 7.25% over three years to 9.25% over three years. (As a point of reference, federal employees are only getting 6.8% over four years.) They’re focusing on the safety aspects and consequently have removed the $2500 bonus drivers were going to receive in recognition of efficiencies that would have been achieved by the new contract.

9.25% is what the union was asking for (even though they’ve said it’s not about the money) and still they’re saying no.

For the union to say that the city’s offer is basically unchanged from the original offer is ludicrous. True, the city wants to regain control of the schedule and they’re not budging on this, but they’ve sweetened the pot in return by giving in on the salary demands. (Management has the right and responsibility to manage. Without control over the schedule, they cannot exercise this right nor fulfill their responsibilities.)

Compromise is a two-way street. The city has compromised on some things, so what is the union willing to compromise on to reach an agreement?

(more…)

Andre Cornellier certainly makes it easy for reporters to file their stories about the negotiations between the City and ATU 279, doesn’t he, because there’s really just a handful of phrases and quotes they need to use when writing their stories?

Now you can write your own story in five easy steps!

First, you need a headline:

1. Talks break off again between the city and striking transit union
2. Union negotiators walk away from the table
3. ATU 279 still on strike
4. No progress in negotiations between the city and transit union
5. Day ___: Still no deal   (you’ll have to fill in the blank with the appropriate number)

Chose one of the following opening sentences:

1. After returning to the bargaining table, talks between the City and Local 279 of the Amalgamated Transit Union have broken down once again.
2. Once again, negotiators for Local 279 of the Amalgamated Transit Union walked away from the negotiating table.
3. Bus riders are still stuck walking as the strike enters its _______th day in a row. (again, fill in the blank with the appropriate number)

Next, add a reason why the talks broke off:

1. Union negotiators maintain that they have the right to determine their schedules.
2. According to union officials the City’s latest offer is not substantially different from previous offers.
3. City maintains it has the support of its citizens in pursuing its goals of reducing overtime and operating costs while improving safety.

Finally, you need some quotes. First, one from a random citizen of Ottawa:

1. U. N. Owen, regular bus rider, said “I can’t believe they rejected this offer. It’s more than most people in this city are getting.”
2. “Both sides are being spoiled rotten children,” said John upon hearing talks had broken down again. “They should be taken out to the woodshed and beaten with a switch.”
3. “Looks like I’m going to be walking to work for a long time,” one rider was heard to comment.

And then one from the Union:

1. “I’m just drooling,” Andre Cornellier told reporters.
2. “It’s about maximum disruption and maximum inconvenience to the public,” reminded local president Andre Cornellier.

And voila! You’ve just written the next story about negotiations between the city and ATU 279!

If I’ve missed any options, please feel free to post suggestions below. 🙂

It’s Monday and I’m blogging, so it’s probably about the transit strike. Of course, if you look back through my recent entries you can probably change the day of the week and that statement would hold true. And today is no exception. *sigh*

CBC has a story about the striking transit workers being “disappointed” because the city rejected their latest offer. The first thing that came to mind was “now you know how everyone in the city felt when your union voted to reject the very reasonable offer”. At least the city councillors didn’t hold a “victory party” and post a video of it on the Internet. (You can see it on YouTube if you want, but don’t bother unless you’re looking to get angry.)

But reading the full story, I found the following:

Sowden [a bus driver interviewed on a picket line] said bus drivers were aware since the beginning of last year that a strike “was pending” and hence are ready to stick out longer.

“Many have worked the overtime in summer and have saved up our pennies so that we can carry ourselves through.”

This just supports something I’ve been thinking since the strike started, namely that ATU union boss, Andre Cornellier, almost certainly had no intention of not striking when he sat down at the bargaining table seven days before he called for a strike. How can this be considered as a prelude to bargaining in good faith?

Oh right – it can’t.

According to the Amalgamated Transit Union’s transit strike website, 2045 members vote of which 75% voted not to accept the City’s offer. This means that 25% of the union members voted to accept the offer.

To the 25% I say a very sincere “Thank you”. You obviously are able to think for yourself rather than follow Andre Cornellier like sheep.

Also on their website is a YouTube video of their “victory party” entitled “2000 souls”. Frankly, I find the video disgusting and I can’t help but wonder what the 25% think of it.

They’ve also got this high contrast red and black graphic which lists the number of voters, the proportion that voted “no” and includes the phrase “No  means No” underneath a ballot box with a X in it. I find this very ironic because I came up with my own high contrast red and black graphic about two weeks ago which I’ve been resisting the urge to use in a blog entry. Until now, that is. 😉

I’m think of having pins made up with my graphic on it and selling them for a buck or two. Would you buy one?

So, back to the main issue: They have voted to not accept the offer. Presumably they’re going to continue to protest, though the smartest thing they could do is return to work as a gesture of good faith while the negotiators continue to try to hammer down a contract. However, based on their victory video and what I’ve seen of Andre Cornellier in interviews on television, the only gesture Cornellier knows involves the middle finger of his hand.

Hopefully, the City negotiators will not capitulate to the union as a result of this vote. In essence, nothing has really changed other than Cornellier gets to say “I told you so” and act smug.

Also, the Canadian Industrial Relations Board is soliciting input from members of the public with how they’ve been affected by the strike. The deadline for submissions is 5:00pm Friday, January 9th, so if you’re planning on sending something in you better do it immediately.

Here’s an excerpt from the CIRB website:

Section 87.4(1) of the Canada Labour Code provides that: "During a strike or lockout not prohibited by this Part, the employer, the trade union and the employees in the bargaining unit must continue the supply of services, operation of facilities or production of goods to the extent necessary to prevent an immediate and serious danger to the safety or health of the public."

Keeping this criterion in mind, members of the public have an opportunity to provide a written explanation as to why they think this obligation is or is not being met during the current work stoppage involving the City of Ottawa (OC Transpo) and the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 279.

Submissions must provide specific details in support of the statements being made and must be limited to the issue raised in this notice. They must also include the name and contact information of the person making the submission. Please note that all submissions received will be transmitted to the employer and the trade union for their review and comment.

Submissions may be sent to the Canada Industrial Relations Board as follows:

• by email at octranspo-atu@cirb-ccri.gc.ca
• by fax at 613-941-4461
• by regular mail or by hand at the following address:

Canada Industrial Relations Board, Regional Director
C.D. Howe Building, 4th Floor West, 240 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0X8

If the CIRB determine that the strike is having too much of an impact or causing extreme hardships for certain groups, they might force the union to return to work while the negotiations continue.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few weeks, you know that Local 279 of the Amalgamated Transit Union is on strike. Today, they union is being forced to take the last offer from the City to the members for a vote. The union executive is strongly encouraging its members to vote “no”, meaning the strike will continue, even though the majority of citizens in Ottawa are prepared to freeze them out.

Most of the bloggers I know are encouraging the union members to vote “yes” for what is generally felt by everyone except the union executive to be a fair offer. Here’s a quick round up of what they’re writing:

• Darin points out to the members that this is their chance to redeem themselves for the behaviour of their union boss by voting to accept the offer
• Ken suspects they will vote “no” and muses about the fact that it appears Cornellier was set on striking from day 1 of the negotiations
• Trashy hopes the members ignore the union rhetoric and vote to accept and reminds us that the Canadian Industrial Relations Board is accepting submissions from members of  the public on how they’re being impacted by the strike

And, of course I’ve written an entry encouraging people to not demonstrate outside where the union members are voting.

All there is to do at this point is wait and hope that the union members are clearer thinkers than their union boss.

*** If you’re looking for the results, I wrote about them here.

There have been suggestions that people should show up at Lansdowne Park today to demonstrate outside where the ATU 279 members are voting on the latest offer from the city. At least one Facebook group has been set up and I’ve seen entries on other blogs to this effect. While at first glance this sounds like a good idea, I actually think it’s a very bad idea.

Right now, the union members are being encouraged by their executive to vote “no” on the City’s offer. Cornellier said at one point that the mandatory vote was bad because it would split the union over an issue that only affects a relatively small number of union members. One way to interpret this is that Cornellier suspects that he does not enjoy the near unanimous support of his membership on this issue he’s been saying he has and that he fears a majority might actually like the City’s offer, which would be a good thing for most people except for Cornellier and the ATU 279 executive.

Demonstrating outside Lansdowne Park might make some of the members who are prepared to vote to accept the offer change their minds out of spite, particularly if they feel intimidated/harassed/threatened by the demonstrators.

So, if you’re thinking of showing up at Lansdowne Park to express your feelings on the strike to the union members heading in to vote, please reconsider. This vote is going to be a difficult decision for some union members who are being pressured by their peers to vote “no” when they want to vote “yes” – we don’t want to change their minds on this issue and cause them to vote “no”.

It appears Andre Cornellier doesn’t like Lowell Green. (To be fair, he’s probably not alone in this.)

In a press release on the ATU 279 website, the union announced that it has filed a complaint with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council over “the appropriateness of comments made by CFRA talk radio host Lowell Green”.

It seems that Green encouraged his listeners to picket the OC Transpo Annual Christmas Party. The union alleges that “Mr. Green made no effort to discourage the many callers who promoted violence against the members of the Union attending the Christmas Party”.

The final paragraph of their press release reads:

By making the public comments that he did, the Union alleges that Mr. Green has violated a number of sections of the CAB Code of Ethics. Both Mr. Green and CFRA have been found to have failed to meet the requirements of the Code of Ethics in the past for the very same reasons that have led the Union to file this complaint.

I wrote about people threatening Cornellier a couple of weeks ago and at the time said that such threats were crossing the line of acceptable behaviour and that people who made them should be charged, convicted and do some jail time. I stand by that statement.

However, simply encouraging people to picket the union’s Christmas party is really no more inappropriate than the union encouraging all of its members to picket the junior hockey games, which is what Cornellier was doing before the City obtained an injunction against the union. Cornellier should accept the fact that his union is not exactly the most popular group of people in town and not be surprised when people use some of the same tactics he’s employing against him.

Still, violence against either the drivers or the riders is not acceptable and shouldn’t be tolerated, regardless of one’s feelings concerning the other side’s position.

A tip o’ the hat to Public Transit in Ottawa for writing about this.