Contract with Fredericton bus drivers would give them double pay on Sundays

Implementing Sunday bus service in Fredericton could cost the city up to $2.4 million a year, an amount one third higher than what it would be without a quietly kept detail in the drivers' collective agreement.

Fredericton is the only one of New Brunswick's three largest cities that doesn't offer transit on Sundays. The collective agreement for drivers stipulates they be paid double their regular wage — up to $54 an hour — if they were to work on that day.

That stipulation has long gone unmentioned in the reasons given by the city as to why it still hasn't acted on demands to introduce Sunday service.

But it's a sticking point that's been cited in a consultant's report and in emails among top city staff, obtained through a right to information request.

CBC News asked the City of Fredericton for all records related to studies and discussions around the potential implementation of Sunday bus service.

Among the documents provided: a spreadsheet outlining the estimated costs from October 2021, a consultant's report pointing to the current "prohibitive" cost of the double-pay rate and emails among staff discussing the high cost.

"If our existing service from Monday to Saturday costs about $5 million, how does adding one day equate to half?" asked Dylan Gamble, director of engineering, in an October 2021 email responding to the estimated cost of Sunday service.

"I get the double-time piece but it's all just such a drastic difference."

$732K extra annually 

The October 2021 estimate, which hasn't before been publicly released, was calculated based on what it would cost to operate buses on the same schedule as on Saturdays.

The estimate shows the city would need six new full-time equivalent transit drivers and an additional dispatcher, mechanic and service worker.

The six transit operators would cost $1.4 million, while the three other staff positions would cost about $260,000, for a total of more than $1.7 million in personnel costs, annually.

Fuel alone would also cost $260,000, in addition to $386,503 in annual depreciation from using the buses more frequently.

In 2019, the city released a strategic transit plan, which included possible options for implementing Sunday service, and at the time estimated the cost of running buses on the same schedule as Saturdays was $534,075.

However, that estimate didn't account for the extra cost of filling coverage gaps due to sickness and vacation time, having drivers on standby, nor the double-pay rate for drivers under the current collective agreement, according to Meredith Gilbert, former transit manager, in a 2021 email.

"Double-time rates apply for operators based on the collective agreement and the assumption in the plan was that this would have been alleviated from the costing prior to moving ahead with Sunday service," Gilbert said, in response to Gamble's concern.

"Double time based on the above hours adds $732,963."

Collective agreement needs changing: consultant

Along with exploring Sunday service, the city has also taken a look at offering on-demand transit service for residents in low-density areas where fixed routes are less feasible.

Last August, Stantec Consulting Ltd. issued a report to city staff on possible ways to move forward and identified on-demand service as a solution for Sundays — but only if the collective agreement were changed.

"The double rate payable for Sunday and holiday services is prohibitive to operating services on those days, even though businesses and activities continue operating on Sundays in Fredericton," according to Stantec.

"Before Fredericton Transit can deploy Sunday service — either as fixed-route or on-demand — it will need to revise its contract with the operator union to make Sunday service financially feasible by removing the double-rate provision."

Contract has been a challenge, councillor says

The city has been exploring the possibility of Sunday service in recent years, and the drivers' collective agreement has been "one of the major hurdles," said Coun. Bruce Grandy, who also chairs the city's mobility committee.

"You know, how would we do that with the drivers? How would we, you know, staff it? How will we pay for the extra cost?

"Yeah, I think it was one of the major stumbling blocks."

Grandy said the city is now in contract negotiations with the Canadian Union of Public Employees for a new collective agreement for bus drivers.

He said he isn't privy to those negotiations but understands there is "some discussion" regarding Sunday service.

CBC News asked CUPE about the double-rate pay in the collective agreement, however, Ralph McBride, national servicing representative for CUPE, declined to comment because of the ongoing negotiations.

Charlene Sharpe, Fredericton's manager of transit and parking services, also declined an interview. In an email statement, she said she would not comment on the collective agreement.

In her email, she said the financial calculations around Sunday bus service were performed before she took over as transit manager and that she hasn't calculated the potential cost herself.

"At this time we are working to gather information through service technology data, ridership data, and public and business consultations," Sharpe said.

"Once this information is gathered and analyzed, a service plan will be developed for council's consideration."

Contract article unusual, says advocate

A contract article such as the one for Fredericton bus drivers is something Ted Bartlett, past president of Transport Action Atlantic, which advocates for public transit service, has not heard of.

He said with public transit an essential service, it should be available every day of the week, but not at an unreasonable cost to the city.

"I'm inclined to agree [with the consultants] that it puts Sunday transit for Fredericton out of reach financially, which is really quite tragic," Bartlett said.

"It's something that needs to be addressed."

CBC News asked the cities of Moncton and Saint John whether their bus drivers are paid extra for working on Sundays.

Codiac Transpo operates 11 routes on Sundays from about 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and drivers do not get paid a higher wage for that work, said Aloma Jardine, a spokesperson for the city.

Saint John Transit operates between 9:55 a.m. and 7:19 p.m. on Sundays, and drivers receive an additional $1.25 per hour on those days, said Ian MacKinnon, director of transit.