OC Transpo’s fleet of buses and light-rail trains will keep running with no threat of a work stoppage until at least March after a contract extension was accepted by a transit union late Friday night.
The one-year collective agreement gives about 2,500 members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 a two-per-cent pay increase for the year ending March 31.
The union, OC Transpo’s largest, had been working without a contract since last March, which is why, although it’s a one-year contract, it expires in March 2012.
Mayor Jim Watson hailed the agreement, which now heads to city council for approval.
“Ensuring that our commuters did not face another winter strike has been a significant priority for this Council,” Watson said in a news release. “We look forward to setting a positive framework to begin work on a long term contract starting this December.”
The agreement also gives union members the option of picking up maintenance work on the new LRT line, and settles some pension disputes.
Ottawa’s last transit strike occurred during the winter of 2008-2009.