Transit union leads rally for reversal of Sask. government's STC cut
Provincial bus company is slated to be closed by end of May
People gathered on the steps of Saskatchewan's legislature Thursday to protest the government's impending closure of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company.
The rally was organized by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1374, the union representing the employees whose jobs will be eliminated when the service closes by the end of May.
"We don't elect governments, we un-elect governments, so Mr. Wall, remember that," ATU Local 1374 president Eric Carr told the crowd.
- Crowd protests STC closure in Regina, call it an 'essential service'
- "It's going to be quite a nightmare:' Passengers outraged by STC closure
Demonstrators, including labour and student groups, called on the government to reverse its decision to scrap the provincial bus company, saying that in addition to employees who will be out of work, rural residents and low-income earners who depend on the service will be hurt by the cut.
The government announced in its latest budget it will shutter the STC. It says $85 million will be saved by cutting the service and its 224 jobs.
The rally was part of a series of student-supported protests held this week to oppose the government's budget cuts.
Opposition NDP interim leader Trent Wotherspoon pointed to the current and former bus drivers gathered in the crowd and called the scrapping of the Crown corporation "an indecent attack" by the Saskacthewan Party on the province.
"This is reason for all of us to rise up and fight back," he said.
STC freight service will end May 19, and passenger service will stop May 31.