Contract talks between the city and the union representing OC Transpo workers are stuck in neutral and driver scheduling is again a sticking point.
Part of the problem is the disputed 2008 contract that touched off a 52-day strike still hasn’t been finalized, said Mike Aldrich, acting president of Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 279, Thursday.
“I’m not negotiating a new contract without the old one,” he said. The two sides have been waiting just under a year for an arbitrator’s ruling and the city has been setting impossible-to-meet bus schedules ever since, he said.
Aldrich said he wants the city to change its bargaining team, but said he is happy Coun. Diane Deans’ was picked to head the city’s interim transit commission. He said he met has a good meeting with Deans Wednesday and plans to meet with Mayor Jim Watson next week.
