The 3-month long lockout, affecting the areas of New Brunswick and
Prince Edward Island, began in December 2011 when Acadian Coach Lines, a
subsidiary of French multinational Keolis, locked out their employees
because of a labour dispute. This has resulted in no intercity bus
service in these provinces of Canada leaving many who rely on buses to
get to and from cities in these provinces stranded.
The dispute
began in late November 2011 when Acadian presented a concessionary
contact to the workers, members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1229.
The bus drivers, mechanics and sales agents had been working without a
contract for months. The insulting contract was overwhelmingly rejected
by 88% and workers gave their 72-hour strike notice to the company.
Acadian then decided to lock out the workers.
The union has made
numerous offers, most recently on February 12, 2012, to go back to the
table with the help of a federally appointed mediator and return to work
immediately, but Acadian has rejected all offers. The ITF
(International Transport Workers’ Federation) and French transportation
unions in CGT, CFDT and FO federations have expressed their solidarity
with the ATU and its locked out workers.
The Amalgamated Transit
Union has been waging a campaign working to build coalitions with
transit advocates, labour organizations and other groups to bring
attention to the corporate greed at Acadian and bring and end this lock
out that has a major impact on working people and their families
throughout New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
Join the campaign HERE.
No comments:
Post a Comment