Transit union leads rally for reversal of Sask. government's STC cut

People gathered on the steps of Saskatchewan's legislature Thursday to protest the government's impending closure of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company.

The rally was organized by the Amalgamated Transit UnionLocal 1374, the unionrepresentingthe employees whose jobs will be eliminatedwhen the service closes bythe end of May.

"We don't elect governments, we un-elect governments, so Mr. Wall, remember that," ATU Local 1374 president Eric Carr told the crowd.

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Demonstrators, including labour and student groups,called on the government to reverse its decision to scrap the provincial bus company, saying that in addition to employeeswhowill be out of work, rural residents and low-income earners who depend on the service will be hurt by the cut.

The government announced in its latest budget it will shutter the STC. It says $85 million will be saved by cutting the service andits 224 jobs.

The rally was part of a series of student-supported protests held this week to oppose the government's budget cuts.

Opposition NDP interim leader Trent Wotherspoon pointed to the current and former bus drivers gathered in thecrowd and called the scrapping of the Crown corporation "an indecent attack" by the SaskacthewanParty on the province.

"This is reason for all of us to rise up and fight back," he said.

STC freight service will end May 19, and passenger service will stop May 31.