No transit strike in Whitehorse Monday morning
Transit workers opt for work-to-rule campaign instead
Whitehorse transit workers will not strike Monday morning, deciding instead on a work-to-rule campaign.
The Yukon Employees' Union, which represents the 34 workers, issued a strike notice on Friday and set a deadline of 6 a.m. Monday. Most are bus drivers, plus some administrative and maintenance staff.
"The membership feels that initially we'll start with a work-to-rule campaign, which will mean people will show up at exactly 7 o'clock, not 6:45," said YEU president Steve Geick.
He says workers will take all lunch and coffee breaks as scheduled, even if that means pulling into the nearest bus stop and letting passengers off the bus.
Geick says passengers may experience delays because drivers will be taking their breaks as scheduled.
"We're trying not to inconvenience the public as much as we can, but we also have to take a stand and put some pressure on the city," he said.
Geick says there were no negotiations over the weekend.
The City of Whitehorse posted an update Saturday on their 2018 strike information page.
It said conciliation talks with the union "carried on through to late Friday evening to maximize the mediator's availability but little progress was made."
"Unfortunately, an agreement was not reached. The mediator's next available dates are in mid-April, and we are hopeful talks can resume at that time," the statement read.
On Sunday evening, the City of Whitehorse posted another update to their page, advising that drivers keep an eye on their social media pages for any disruption in service.
with files from Claudiane Samson