Provincial board rules transit lockout illegal
SASKATOON — The provincial labour relations board has ruled the City of Saskatoon broke the law when it locked out transit workers last month, and has ordered the city to lift the lockout.
However, as of Friday night, civic officials — who city solicitor Patricia Warwick described as “surprised and disappointed” by the ruling — had not said when buses will be back on the roads.
The city is allowed to issue another lockout if it gives 48 hours’ notice, but no one from the city would comment on the possibility of another lockout.
“In light of long-term implications of the labour board ruling, the city continues to consider its options,” spokesman Mark Rogstad stated in an emailed release Friday evening.
A later release said, “The City will comply with the (labour board) order, it also needs to have a conversation with the transit union to discuss how the city will comply.” A news conference is scheduled for this morning at city hall.
The city indicated via Twitter Friday evening that officials hoped to schedule a meeting with the union Saturday morning. The union released a statement stating it would not be available to meet until at least 1 p.m. Sunday.
In its three-page ruling, the labour relations board also said the city must pay compensation to transit union members “for monetary loss suffered as a result of the unlawful actions” of the city.
The board has not yet determined how much compensation the union is eligible to receive, but Gary Bainbridge, lawyer for the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) local 615, said he suspects that amount “conservatively is going to be hundreds of thousands of dollars” to cover lost wages, overtime and benefits for about 350 employees who had been on the picket line for 27 days as of Friday.
Local 615 president Jim Yakubowski said his members are “ready and willing” to go back to work as soon as they receive direction from the city.
He suggested they would not strike once the lockout is lifted, even though they have a strike mandate.
“Our members are totally excited to get back to work and provide service to the citizens of Saskatoon and continue to bargain in good faith to reach a settlement in the least impactful way for the citizens of Saskatoon,” he told reporters after hearing the decision.
Yakubowski challenged the legality of the transit lockout shortly after the city imposed it on Sept. 20.
He alleged the City of Saskatoon was not allowed to issue a lockout notice because the union had filed an unfair labour practice grievance against the city in June over the city’s discipline of a bus driver, and that suit had not been resolved at the time the lockout notice was served. Under the Saskatchewan Employment Act, employers are not allowed to initiate lockouts and employees are not allowed to go on strike if an application is pending before the board.
The city said the unfair labour practice suit at the centre of the union’s argument was “unrelated” and “irrelevant” to the collective bargaining process and that the application could not be considered “pending” because it had not been subject to formal public hearings before the lockout notice was served.
Both sides appeared before the labour relations board Tuesday to deliver arguments on the legality of the transit lockout. That decision was deferred and sent to both parties in writing Friday morning.
In its decision, the labour relations board said the union’s unfair labour application about bus driver discipline was pending for five months, from June 3 — the day it was considered by an in-camera panel of the board — until Oct. 3, when the matter was ruled on.