Thunder Bay bus drivers eye strike action

Negotiators for the bus drivers' union and the city of Thunder Bay are trying again today to avert a strike and make some progress on a new collective agreement.

A provincial conciliator was to attendmeetings Wednesday morning to try to make some progress on a new collective agreement.

The Amalgamated Transit Union has a strike mandate from its membership.

City manager Tim Commisso said he won't comment on a possible strike, but he noted the city is working hard to get a deal.

The unionsaysThunder Bay transit workers currently earn some of the lowest wages among Ontario bus systems.

We are actually ranked the second from the bottom in Ontario for transit operator wage in particular, said ATU local 966 president Sheila Kivisto. We are doing the same job as everyone else.

Kivisto wouldneither say what the union is asking for in terms of a pay increase, nor what the city is offering. But she added the city isn't offering what it should.