Mayor wants St. John's bus strike over soon

The mayor of St. John's is hopeful that the city's six-week-old public transportation strike will end before Christmas.

Negotiations between Metrobus workers and management have stalled, but Mayor Dennis O'Keefe expects that will change.

"I'm more optimistic than I was a few days ago or certainly a week or 10 days ago," he said Thursday

O'Keefe said a national union representative will be in the city Friday.

If the dispute isn't resolved by Monday Metrobus management plans to step up the pressure. "They'll call a press conference and indicate to one and all the history of what has happened so that everybody understands what has transpired over the last six weeks," said O'Keefe.

Metrobus workers walked off the job Nov. 4.

Between 9,000 and 14,000 people use public transportation in St. John's each day, many of them students.

Benefits the issue

Metrobus offered a raise of 15.5 per cent over four years, but the dispute is focused more on what the union calls outrageous demands over benefits.

The city-owned service has proposed splitting the cost of a group insurance plan 50/50 with new employees. The benefits package costs about $280 per employee per month, meaning that Metrobus wanted each worker to pay $140 per month. Currently, workers pay 15 per cent of the benefits costs.

The rejection came after talks between Metrobus Transit and the Amalgamates Transit Union reached an impasse after months of bargaining. The strike also comes in the midst of a city-funded review of the entire Metrobus service, which has seen ridership decline since 2006.

The ATU represents bus drivers, mechanics and other staff.

A strike in 2004 lasted two weeks.