'People are going to suffer' from Winnipeg Transit cancellations

It's been a frustrating morning for some people who rely on Winnipeg Transit.

The ongoing labour dispute has created service disruptions across the city, leaving some buses running late, some not showing up at all, and forcing many people to scramble for alternate travel plans.

"Oh yeah, it was horrible. The bus driver was, like, to the point he couldn't even let anybody else on, it was so packed," said Kim Lilley, whose bus didn't show up, prompting her to catch another one then transfer to yet another.

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There are more than 110 buses parked in the transit yards, waiting for repairs, which means they are not able to be on the road taking passengers.

A total of 25 routes were affected Tuesday morning.  More will affected during the afternoon rush hour.

• Afternoon Routes: 11, 16, 18, 25, 29, 38, 41, 48, 54, 58, 162, 163, 183

"I commute by the bus every day and I have to get to work, I have to get home. It would be a bit of a walk if I have to get home from work or going to work by walking," she said.

Her route 16 bus is expected to be affected during the afternoon rush hour.

"And I'm supposed to stay late at work, so I have to figure out and make sure I keep up on the time. If not, I have to take the 55 to go downtown [and] that will be a bit of a re-route."

Harbreed Dhalla, who was also at the Confusion Corner junction, sees the situation as much more dire.

"It's a concerning issue because wherever I have to travel I travel by bus. I'm really surprised if they're going to go on strike because the whole city is going to collapse," she said. "Yesterday I was talking to a group of people and they were all concerned if Transit is going to do this … then we are really going to be in trouble, people are going to suffer.

"I think transit people shouldn't do this. They should find some other way to sort out their problem instead of going for a strike or something like that.

"I'm really worried how I'm going to travel back home in the afternoon or tomorrow. I have appointments, I have an interview, so I'm going to have to rush from one work to another work and I don't know how I'm going to manage."

Transit disruptions

​Amalgamated Transit Union president John Callahan said what Winnipeg Transit pays its operators and mechanics pales in comparison to what workers in other big Canadian cities are making.

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"Right now we feel we are four to five dollars an hour below the national standard for mechanics," Callahan told CBC News last week.

The Transit fleet is comprised of about 580 buses and Callahan expects about one-fifth of those to be rendered out of service by Tuesday, and in need of repairs that they aren't likely to receive during the dispute.

Mayor Brian Bowman said he can't get into details with ongoing labour negotiations but believes the conciliator and both parties will be meeting today and he's hoping for agreement soon.

"We want to see everybody back to normal operations," he said.

"They do great work and they're valued members of our public service, so we obviously want to get back to normal operations for everybody's benefit, most notably transit riders."

Make transit essential service, mom says

Some parents in the city's Whyte Ridge neighbourhood say the situation is making it difficult for their kids to get to school.

Cheryl Santilli said she was notified on Friday that transit bus No. 181, the one her daughter takes to Vincent Massey Collegiate, could be cancelled Tuesday.

Santilli said she'll have to drive her daughter to school and make arrangements with her employer to come in late to work.

Because there is no high school in the Whyte Ridge area, Santilli's daughter relies on transit as her only means of getting to class.

"Who is going to pay for our gas and probably our parking, because we have to take cars now to work because we can't take a bus out of here," she said.

"It affects people who live here, too, not just students, so it's quite a nightmare situation in this area."

Santilli, who believes a few hundred students in the neighbourhood could be affected, wants transit to be declared an essential service so that transit drivers can't take labour action that leads to service disruptions..

"It's very frustrating, [I'm] very angry, very angry," she said.

"We are now also sitting with half-used bus passes that are useless to us."