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York Region Transit: Viva service thread

viva drivers might be on strike monday...

TORONTO —

Nearly 200 transit employees in York Region have voted to strike next Monday if a contract agreement isn't reached.

Workers for Veolia Transportation, which runs the region's Viva bus service, say the major stumbling block in reaching an agreement is the employer's policy on sickness.

The union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, says Veolia fires workers who are off sick for a short time unless they provide a note from a doctor.

It says workers don't get an allowance of paid sick days without doctors' certificates and calls that irregular in the industry.

Union president Bob Kinnear says bus drivers are frequently exposed to common illnesses and it both endangers the public and overloads the health-care system to require them to seek medical attention.

The union also wants a new agreement to address shift assignments where workers can put in as much as 56 hours a week without overtime pay, and say wages are lower than other Toronto-area transit systems.
Click to expand...
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...va_strike_080916/20080916/?hub=TorontoNewHome
 
they usually are good about getting contracts done so there isn't a need to strike. but even if they do, there's always the YRT :)
 
crappp...

I have to get to Leafs game on Monday (go leafs go!) but I live at Yonge and Mojor Mac. I would take Viva down to Finch, but without Viva, looks like I'm takin the 99 (add on one hour to travel time...).

At least we still have the good ol' YRT :), don't know what I would do without them.
 
Sunday, September 21, 2008, 7:30PM

Viva services to run as usual on Monday
Operators represented by ATU Local 113 reach tentative agreement
with Veolia Transportation Inc.

NEWMARKET – The Regional Municipality of York advises residents that Viva services will run as usual on Monday after a tentative agreement was reached today between operators represented by Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 113 Local and Veolia Transportation Inc.

Veolia Transportation Inc. is under contract to The Regional Municipality of York to provide Viva bus rapid transit service.

All Viva and York Region Transit (YRT) services will continue to run on regular schedules.

Viva provides five bus rapid transit routes along major York Region corridors, including Yonge Street and Highway 7, with links to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway at Don Mills, Finch and Downsview Station.

Approximately 160 Veolia operators and 90 Viva vehicles provide service to 35,000 boardings each weekday.

For more information, please visit the YRT/Viva website at www.yrt.ca or call the Customer Service Centre at 1-866-MOVE-YRT (668-3978).

For more information on The Regional Municipality of York, please visit www.york.ca

Media Contact: Michael Kemp, Corporate Communications, York Region
Phone: 905 830-4444, ext. 1232 or Cell 905 251-6419
Email: Michael.Kemp@york.ca

http://www.yrt.ca/news/strike.asp
 
Viva drivers to strike at 4 a.m.

TONY BOCK/TORONTO STAR
York Region's Viva buses ordinarily move more than 35,000 passengers a day.
September 24, 2008
EMILY MATHIEU
STAFF REPORTER
York region commuters who use Viva bus service will need to find alternate transportation tomorrow morning, it was announced tonight drivers of the bus line are going on strike.

"We are a democratic union and our members have spoken," said Bob Kinnear, President of ATU Local 113, in a statement released tonight.

"Veolia management knew that the strike would begin tomorrow if their offer was turned down and I have informed them of the results of the vote," he said.

Viva's 164 drivers will walk off the job at 4:00 a.m., after union members voted down a tentative settlement by 61 per cent. There will be no talks this evening.

The union and Veolia Transport, the company that runs the bus line, have been talking since April, but negotiations broke off last Monday. The drivers were seeking a 3 per cent wage increase in each year of a three-year contract. They currently make $20.75 an hour, about $5 less than workers with the Toronto Transit Commission.

Sick time and scheduling issues were also major sticking points during negotiations.

The strike action comes days after a short-lived reprieve for riders.

On Sunday Kinnear released a statement announcing the two sides "...worked through the weekend and are pleased we were able to avert a work stoppage."

There are 90 Viva rapid-transit buses running on five routes, including Yonge St. and Highway 7, with links to the TTC at Don Mills, Finch and Downsview stations.

The remaining two-thirds of York Region's transit service would continue to operate, but it doesn't have the capacity to serve all the passengers who would be without Viva, region officials said.

They urged commuters to try to arrange a lift through Carpool Zone or to call the YRT/Viva Customer Service Centre, at 1-866-668-3978.

Extra customer service agents would-be available on the phone and at the main service centres if there was a strike, they said.
 
Now the 905 can have a taste of Bob Kinnear.

It will certainly not be nearly as big of an impact as the TTC, and at least he's not blaming the victims by calling them "angry and irrational", but the guy knows how to screw the public, doesn't he? Not getting the news out until later in the evening after people thought there was a resolution is Klassic Kinnear, and then telling everybody they should have known.
 
thankfully there's still the YRT. gonna check out how packed the buses will be this morning.
 
I'm wondering why ATU 113 keeps reaching tentative settlements which are way off from what membership wants.

When that happens in government don't the people tend to rise up and vote them out?
 
This morning I was quite surprised to find out that the Viva drivers are on strike. I take the YRT to work, but the Viva drivers were picketing at the Finch bus station, and only letting one YRT bus out every five minutes or so. It took more than half an hour to leave the bus station.
 
That picket is probably illegal, since it is not owned by the employer (Veola) nor even the client (York Region). The York Region terminal at Finch is owned by GO Transit.

But then again, the law never got in the way of Kinnear.
 
so here's my experience today.

got on the bus going south at ~6am. Most of the stops had 5-6 people waiting. took a good 35 min to get to finch from 16th ave. when it usually takes ~20 during the same time. city news was there reporting but no sign of any picketers.

coming back home at around 10:30, the 99 bus was packed as i've never seen before. even in the pre-viva days. heading up to richmond hill centre, that's where the picketing was happening. they are blocking buses for roughly 10 min each on the way in and out. with the bus full and emotions running high, as we were let through, a good chunk of people were giving the one finger salute to the bus blockers.

so the usual bus ride of 30min doubled into an hour because of this business.
 
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