The union representing Belleville transit workers is firing back at Belleville Mayor Mitch Panciuk.
Unifor Assistant to National President Chris MacDonald said in an email “Either the mayor is out of the loop or he is misleading his constituents about the state of play in transit bargaining.”
Quinte News reached out to Mayor Panciuk who stated, “Unifor is known to be a rogue labour organization and they try to intimidate municipalities and our team is doing a good job.”
The comments come following Mayor Panciuk’s weekly YouTube video update posted on Monday. Panciuk’s transit comments begin at 6:25 of the video, and at 7:07 he claims, “We made a fair offer to them, consistent with what we made to our other labour groups.”
According to MacDonald, “There has not been a single offer from the employer, and the employer has refused to respond to Local 1839’s February 1, 2022 proposal.”
Belleville Transit Unifor National Rep Scott Bateman spoke to Quinte News.
“I want to be clear, they have advanced proposals but in the comments that were made on YouTube, I think it’s misleading to say that the offer was made equal to other labour groups. There’s not been any monetary offer made. Just concessionary offers about workplace practices.”
“We’ve been waiting for 50 days for the employer to respond. It’s no wonder transit workers are frustrated enough to set a strike deadline,” said MacDonald. “We’ve engaged in good faith bargaining but we can’t bargain by ourselves.”
Bateman adds the city has not responded to repeated attempts to resume negotiations.
“Our priority is to keep the buses running to service the, the folks in Belleville and surrounding areas. A strike is not at all what we’re looking for but we’re also looking for a fair agreement. Our drivers are among the lowest paid transit drivers in the province.”
Belleville transit workers are in a legal strike position as of April 1 at 4 a.m.
Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.
