Metrobus workers vote to strike

Employees of the public transportation system in the St. John's area voted Wednesday in favour of a strike that would effectively cancel the Metrobus service.

Some members of the Amalgamated Transit Union assembled Wednesday night to vote on whether to give their union a strike mandate. Others had voted earlier in the day. The union confirmed late in the evening that 97 per cent of its members who voted rejected the company proposal.

The rejection came after talks between Metrobus Transit and the ATU reached an impasse. Metrobus, largely funded by the City of St. John's, has been coping with a budget squeeze.

"We're not in agreement with what they're asking for," union official Paul Churchill told CBC News before the vote was held.

The ATU represents bus drivers, mechanics and other staff, and a strike would cancel Metrobus service on the northeast Avalon Peninsula and affect thousands of customers, particularly students.

Users of the Metrobus system were "definitely sitting on pins and needles until … we get that news," said Joshua Jamieson, who relies on the service to get to work. Jamieson told CBC News he vividly recalls being a student in 2004 when Metrobus employees staged a two-week strike. Jamieson said the strike caused enormous problems for students living beyond walking distance from their classes.

Terms of the Metrobus offer have not been disclosed.

Union members told CBC News earlier that if a strike mandate was endorsed, buses would finish their routes Wednesday night and then be parked at the depot.

Metrobus warned Tuesday that it expected a strike to start Thursday morning if its workers voted in favour of a stoppage.