Metrobus users want St. John's buses back

Some St. John's residents are calling on striking public transportation workers and Metrobus management to reach an agreement that will put buses back on the roads.

About 20 Metrobus users turned out at a council meeting at St. John's city hall Monday to protest the ten-week old strike.

"I'm blaming the fact that educated, adult people can sit in on 10 weeks of negotiations and not be able to come to some kind of an agreement," said Josephine Doyle, who held a sign saying "Bring Back the Buses," at the city council meeting.

Doyle says council and the workers need to get past their differences and focus on the riders.

Talks between Metrobus management and workers broke down late last week with no plans to resume.

More than 100 Metrobus employees have been on strike since Nov. 4.

The drivers, mechanics and other workers at the Metrobus Transit Commission resumed conciliation talks Jan.5, but Friday evening the Amalgamated Transit Union confirmed that it had walked away from the table.

An earlier round of talks broke off Dec. 21, with Metrobus and members of St. John's city council claiming that the ATU had walked away from the table.

The dividing line at the start of the strike was the company's insistence that new hires pay half the costs of running the group benefits program.

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

St. John's Mayor Dennis O'Keefe told CBC News in late December that St. John's is saving about $45,000 each week that Metrobus is out of service. However, he said city council expects much of that money will be plowed back into luring riders to the service once the strike ends.