Strike averted: Transit union, city of Windsor reach tentative deal

CBC
Sun, February 4, 2024 

Riders of Transit Windsor's Dominion bus line up at the downtown Windsor terminal in a January 2024 file photo. (Chris Ensing/CBC - image credit)

A tentative deal has been reached between the union representing Transit Windsor workers and the city, averting a strike just hours ahead of a 12:01 a.m. deadline.

The city of Windsor says buses will be running on their usual schedule Monday morning.

"We're absolutely thrilled to have this deal done ahead of any disruption to service for our community," Mark Winterton, Windsor's acting commissioner of infrastructure services said in a media release just after 9 p.m. on Sunday.

"It's been a marathon of negotiating to get here but we have a tentative agreement that we can present to city council and that Local 616 can take to their members."

Amalgamated Transit Union international vice-president Manny Sforza said in a media release that "both sides worked hard to come to an agreement." He called it a "fair and reasonable deal for our members."

The city says no details of the deal will be made public before it can be seen by city council and the union's membership.

The union says transit workers will see the contract in the coming days.

The ATU had previously issued a 72-hour strike notice on Jan. 11, 39 days after the union said it had entered into a legal strike position.

Last week, the union said transit workers would be on strike as of 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 5 if a deal couldn't be reached.

The union has said giving workers 10 federally mandated paid sick days was a key sticking point in the negotiations.

ATU Local 616 president Dragan Markovic said Sunday that "members now have a pathway to the middle class and the federally mandated sick days they deserve for the essential public service they provide."