One of three transit groups striking in York Region will return to the bargaining table this weekend as commuters struggle into their eighth week of disrupted service.
Amalgamated Transit Union local 113 – which represents 230 Veolia Transportation drivers – will meet with York Region Transit on Saturday.
President Bob Kinnear said he is cautiously optimistic that progress can be made, but added that he is concerned about the tone going into the meeting.
Two other striking unions, Miller Transit and First Canada, do not have any meetings scheduled.
About 560 drivers and mechanics from York Region Transit and Viva walked off the job on Oct. 24 over wages, halting service on a good portion of the routes in the region directly north of Toronto.
The issues in dispute are wage and benefit level differences between unionized workers in York Region and counterparts elsewhere in the Greater Toronto Area.
The members of Amalgamated Transit Union locals 1587 and 113 have been forming occasional picket lines and delaying the region's remaining buses in recent weeks.
An estimated 60 per cent of the transit system in York Region is affected, mainly in Markham, Richmond Hill, Newmarket, and Aurora. Some 44,000 passengers are affected by the dispute.
York Region council has said it will not get involved in the dispute but has appealed for all sides to resume working and return to the bargaining table.
