At first glance, it appears both sides came out of the Guelph Transit labour dispute with at least some of their wishes fulfilled.
Under the terms of the deal, the 205 employees represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 will see their wages increase by $2.36 per hour, or 8.5 per cent, between 2013 and 2017.
Unionized workers also landed a letter of understanding in which the city will work to improve lunchroom and washroom conditions at facilities like Guelph Central Station.
For its part, the city won a cap on the number of hours transit workers can bank as time-in-lieu – specifically, a 50-hour limit.
Last year, an overtime audit of all city departments revealed that transit workers accounted for more than $1 million of the city’s approximately $5-million overtime costs.
Transit officials say that when buses return to the streets Friday, they’ll be free to use until Aug. 15.
Some passengers who spoke to CTV News on Wednesday applauded the move, but Janet Kelly – who questioned why the period of free service was shorter than the period of no service – had a different opinion.
“I think we should be able to get it for the rest of the month, seeing that we might still have to buy a bus pass for the rest of the month,” she said.
