Saskatoon bus drivers took another step towards job action Friday.
Ninety-four per cent of voters in the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents Saskatoon’s transit employees, voted in favour of rejecting the city’s most recent and final contract offer.
“The wages and the pension changes are the major items our members, obviously, are not in agreement with,” said union president Jim Yakubowski.
The union was hoping for wages comparable to what they call the western Canadian average — wages in cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Regina.
“We’re not asking to be at the top of the pack, but we’re asking to be at the middle of the pack,” said Yakubowski. “This formula would essentially guarantee we would never fall to the bottom of the pack.”
The city’s proposal — its final offer — would see transit wages increase by a total 10 per cent over four years. The wages, by January 2015, would be similar to wages in Regina and Winnipeg, but not Calgary and Edmonton, according to the city’s director of human resources Marno McInnes.
“They’ve basically pointed to what they call the western Canadian average,” said McInnes. “We don’t think it’s relevant, to be quite candid. Most of our hiring and recruitment is done locally, so it’s our local market that’s really relevant. It’s not so much Calgary and Edmonton.”
Yakubowski said the proposal cuts benefits and caps the city’s pension contribution rates. McInnes said no other civic union had a problem with the pension proposal.
“They all belong to the same pension plan. We have provided the same wage packages and the same pension proposal. Eight out of the nine, with the exception of transit, have agreed and ratified those terms and conditions,” McInnes said.
The transit union voted last month in favour of strike action after rejecting a previous contract from the city.
Both sides said Saturday they’d meet this weekend or early Monday to decide if the two can come to an agreement.
“We’re ready to get back to the table to bargain, if the city so desires. The ball is in their court,” said Yakubowski.
New legislation requires the two sides, if bargaining has in fact reached an impasse, to seek assistance from Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety.
If a deal still can’t be reached, the union can declare a strike after a 14-day waiting period.
A strike could be weeks away if the two sides decide they won’t reach an agreement, McInnes said.
“There’s a lot of conversations, a lot of processes we need to get through before we get to that stage.”
Transit workers have been without a contract since December 2012.
The transit union is required to give 48-hour notice before going on strike.
