GO Transit union says it will strike if members reject offer from Metrolinx

A bus driver disembarks a GO Transit bus at the new Union Station Bus Terminal in Toronto on Tuesday, November 2, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Evan Buhler

The union representing more than 2,000 GO Transit bus operators, station attendants and other employees says it will move forward with strike plans if members reject Metrolinx's latest contract offer.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587 says it will hold a vote on the offer on Nov. 2 and 3 and would give 72 hours notice before a work stoppage.

The union says the committee will not be recommending an endorsement or rejection of the offer to its members.

Metrolinx announced Thursday that a threatened Oct. 31 strike had been averted after a tentative offer had been presented to the union's negotiating committee, and the union confirmed that Friday.

The union says negotiations between the two sides began in April and members have been working without a contract since June 1.

President Rob Cormier says the union's key issues include job security and job safety relating to hiring contract workers from outside companies.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2022.