VIVA Transit Drivers Strike

We noted last week that the VIVA bus drivers were in legal position to strike.  It looked briefly like a last minute deal would avert a strike, but the drivers voted against a proposed collective agreement, and the strike started today.  Under Ontario labour laws, a strike cannot begin until a majority of workers have voted to strike, mandatory government conciliation has taken place and failed to lead to a collective agreement, and a period of time has passed (14 days) after the Minister of Labour has informed the parties that it will not impose any further conciliation (usually called a ‘no board report’).   The Labour Relations Act also provides that no collective agreement can come into effect until and unless the agreement is accepted by a majority of voters in a ‘ratification’ vote.   It was the failed ratification vote that has led to the strike occurring now.  Presumably, the parties will continue to bargain to try and settle this as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, the strike will impact a lot of York students.  Here is York’s statement on the strike.