Saskatoon Transit workers vote to give union executive more power around job action

Workers at Saskatoon Transit have voted to give their union's executive thepower to deliver a notice of job action to the employer.

They gathered last night to talk about the state of labour negotiations.

Both the union and the City of Saskatoon continue to be locked in labour negotiations over pensions and wages. Transit workers have been without a contract for four years.

"What we sought from the membership was approval to proceed to the next level of exertion and pressure on the city, in the event that we're unable to reach a tentative agreement through the normal context of bargaining," said union local president Jim Yakubowski.

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While that may sound like an escalation, the union says it will do everything in its power to avoid any disruption to service for riders.

"The people that we see every day, many of whom are less fortunate than the vast majority of people in our community, we have empathy for them," he said. "We do not have any desire to impact their ability to get around. So, we are working earnestly to resolve our differences without any further impact on our citizens."

Workers will meet with the City of Saskatoon again today to continue negotiations, which have been ongoing all week.

"This has been a long four-year ordeal," he said. "What the membership has granted us is the ability to assess how progress is rolling along, and they are anxiously awaiting a settlement."

The city maintains it has offered the transit union the same four-year wage package and pension package it offered to the other unions and associations in the City's General Pension Plan. Agreements have been reached with eight other unions. The transit union is the only union yet to accept and ratify an agreement.