Ottawa transit strike drags on over scheduling issue

An emergency city council meeting has failed to end Ottawa's 39-day transit strike.

Councillors began the meeting around 9 p.m. Friday to consider theAmalgamated Transit Union's latestoffer to settle nearly all issues in the dispute through binding arbitration, but leave the hotly contested scheduling issue for mediation.

After the meeting ended around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, councillors announced they had turned down the union's proposal.

"You know, it's something that we can't go forward with," said Mayor Larry O'Brien. "All the issues are so integrated and they're all indispensable to each other."

City council's response was a counter-offer that would send all issues, including scheduling, to binding arbitration.

With the ball back in the union's court, council has also called on union negotiators to bring any future proposals straight to the negotiating table and not discuss them with the media first.

Earlier in the week, striking transit workers spoke publicly about the scheduling issue, which remains at the heart of the debate. They told reporters that drivers should be able to continue to have a say over which shifts they work, based on seniority, in order to balance their work lives and family lives.

Hours before the emergency meeting began, Coun. Rick Chiarelli said the two sides also remain far apart on issues dealing with wages and benefits.

On Thursday, the city voted to remove a one-time $2,500 signing bonus from its latest offer and said any new package cannot cost more than the one already on the table.

It also agreed to the hiring of an independent consultant to clarify facts about scheduling.