Brampton bus service partially returns as city employees continue to strike

Bus service partially returned to Brampton Saturday after the union representing striking city employees allowed buses to cross the picket lines. 

But Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown says that, with only a quarter of buses back on the road as of Saturday morning, his previous threat to seek an injunction still stands. 

"My message to CUPE is stop preventing our transit operators from going to work. Otherwise, we're going to see you in court next week," he told CBC Toronto. 

Bus service has been disrupted since Thursday when 1,200 city employees from CUPE Local 831 walked off the job after contract negotiations with the city failed to produce a new deal. Picket lines were set up outside Brampton Transit facilities.

The workers on strike include employees responsible for public transit, parks and recreation, road maintenance, and other services. Bus operators are not among the striking workers.  

The decision to allow buses back on the road wasn't because of Brown's threat of an injunction, said Fabio Gazzola, CUPE Local 831 president. Rather, it was a sign of good faith that they want to get back to the bargaining table,  

"We're not here to disrupt the public, but we're also here to try to negotiate and get a fair deal from the employer," he said. 

In an online update, Brampton Transit said there would still be "significant disruptions," adding that service is limited along routes 1A, 4, 7A, 11A, 15A and 18.

Meanwhile, transit users like Manpreet Kaur said they're getting impatient. 

"I'm late for my work," she told CBC while waiting for her bus. "Yesterday, I had my college classes online because of this."

Striking city employees are seeking a pay increase and a health and benefits package on par with management.

The union representing the bus operators is in solidarity with the city employees but wants to see their work get back to normal, said union president Andrew Salabie. 

"We have a job to do and we have to serve the citizens of Brampton and get them to where they need to go," said Salabie, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union 1573. 

He added they have people on site that communicate with the strike captains and try to get five minute intervals to get buses in and out.

It's unclear when bus service will return to normal.

Brown said there hasn't been any discussion at the bargaining table since Tuesday and that the two sides still far apart. 

He said the offer presented to the union was "final" and has terms identical to an agreement reached with CUPE members in Mississauga. 

Gazzola told CBC that's not an appropriate comparison given that Brampton has close to 1,000 more CUPE employees than Mississauga who are classified in different ways. "It's not a fair assessment," he said.