If you are among the hundreds of thousands of bus riders who depend on OC Transpo daily, you are just one more bargaining chip in the transit union’s latest money grab.
The Amalgamated Transit Union is demanding a pay increase that would not only offset inflation and then some but also add three, six, and nine per cent pay bonuses for bus drivers, based on years of service.
The bonuses would mean an average increase of four per cent for bus drivers, who already make $45,000 a year after nine months on the job. Pile the added bonuses for veterans on top of the pay increase for all drivers and you end up with an average pay increase of at least $3,000.
Multiply that by 2000 bus drivers and you have an increased total cost to the city of about $6 million per year.
Where does the demand for huge bonuses come from? The union points to similar bonuses that arbitrators have given to the Ottawa Police Service. Firefighters are now asking for similar bonuses as well.
The arbitrators gave the bonuses to the police based on a precedent set in Toronto, where the police service was losing veteran officers to less dangerous positions in the suburbs.
Ottawa is not Toronto. And, in light of the spree of killings in Toronto this year, we can all be glad of that fact. Being a police officer here is not as dangerous as it is there and we do not have their problem of losing our officers to other cities.
Still, the police got their bonuses and, considering the vital role they play in keeping us safe and the element of danger in their job, the increase can be justified. Firefighters are similarly ready to lay their lives on the line for our community.
But bus drivers? When was the last time we had a funeral for a bus driver who died in the line of duty? And surely we haven’t been losing our drivers en masse to small towns.
Yet the demands stand, and city council is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
They want to encourage more people to ride our public transit system, which is among the best in North America. Increased ridership would reduce pollution, congestion and wear and tear on our roads. If the aftermath of the 1996 strike is any indication, another strike would likely lead to lower ridership as commuters determine that they will no longer be held hostage by a greedy union.
The city is also facing the prospect of a large property tax increase in the next budget. An increase of $6 million in transit costs would have to come from taxpayer’s pockets. In the past, city council has watched helplessly as mandatory, binding arbitration has given in to union demands. Luckily, labour disputes with bus drivers do not go to mandatory arbitration.
This gives city council a chance to show their resolve. Their offer, a pay increase at more than the rate of inflation, is fair and they should stick to it.
Yes, a strike hurts everyone: commuters going to work, shoppers coming downtown to browse the stores, business owners bussing to open their doors.
Usually the ones who suffer most are those in the lowest pay scale who can’t afford a car, the gas to commute in, or the parking rates downtown. But giving in to unreasonable demands to avoid short-term discomfort is short-sighted.
If the bus drivers don’t want to accept the city’s offer let them sit through a strike and ponder what, if any, sense of social responsibility they should feel towards the hundreds of thousands of their fellow taxpayers and fellow citizens who depend on them daily.