City approves hiring of up to 58 new HSR drivers
Move comes amid spate of absenteeism
The HSR will hire up to 58 extra fulltime drivers to fix a no-show bus crisis that stranded furious riders all over Hamilton last month.
Nearly 600 HSR buses were cancelled last month because not enough drivers were available to staff them. The HSR blamed “unprecedented” driver absenteeism — up to 19 per cent in October — but the transit union angrily pointed the finger at poor management and scheduling that has “burned out” operators, later calling for HSR brass to be fired.
The city’s initial response to the crisis was to ask the Ministry of Labour for permission to allow HSR operators to be on the road up to 68 hours a week to cover gaps in service.
More than 100 drivers have already worked 300-plus hours of overtime this year so far.
But councillors voted Wednesday to allow the HSR to exceed budgeted driver numbers by as many as 58 — a bump from 484 to 542 full-time positions — to try to avoid mass bus shortages in future.
“It is unacceptable … that people are being left at the curb” by bus cancellations, said Mayor Fred Eisenberger.
Eisenberger said the effort to “hold operators accountable” on attendance is important — but so is having the right number of drivers. “Working 68 hours a week is beyond unreasonable,” he said.
Transit union president Eric Tuck had previously accused the city of pursuing a strategy of “overtime by design,” arguing the HSR has been “chronically understaffed” because managers felt it was cheaper to pay one-time overtime costs than continuing full-time benefits.
Tuck attended the meeting and expressed cautious optimism about the move to hire new drivers.
“We’ve said all along, for a long time, that we don’t have enough people to do the job,” said Tuck. “The city appears to be taking the first steps in the right direction to acknowledge that.”
Tuck reiterated the city’s reliance on overtime feeds a “cycle” of burned-out drivers who are more prone to illness, stress leave and early retirements.
He added chronic missing or late buses also contributes to rider frustration and driver unwillingness to work needed overtime. Tuck said he believes it’s not a coincidence that four drivers have been assaulted — including one punched in the face Wednesday evening — since the debate over the missing bus crisis and absenteeism went public.
The city has not yet made public details about how the publicized 19 per cent absenteeism rate breaks down in terms of sick days, stress leave, short or long-term disability.
A report to council says paying those extra full-time drivers a regular rate, with benefits, would still be cheaper in theory than the $4.7 million in overtime the city is paying annually now to cover absenteeism and prevent bus cancellations.
Public works head Dan McKinnon noted the city is already 25 drivers “over-complement,” positions that would be included in the total number of new hires.
He said advertising for new drivers will start as soon as possible, but it takes three or more months to hire and train new transit workers. Another 14 newly trained operators are expected on the job in December.
He said the city will closely monitor staff absences month-to-month to determine how many extra drivers are ultimately needed.
If the absenteeism rate drops, McKinnon said the HSR will let driver numbers drop in tandem via retirements.