Striking transit workers gathering for mass rally

Striking transit workers gathering for mass rally

(File)

Hundreds of striking York Region Transit workers are expected to attend a large rally in Newmarket on Thursday morning.
Nearly 600 bus drivers and maintenance workers have been off the job since Monday morning, shutting down about 60 per cent of York Region's bus routes.
The unionized workers and their supporters are expected to hold their first rally outside regional government headquarters on Yonge Street at 10:30 a.m.
This will be the first event staged by the workers' unions – Amalgamated Transit Union locals 113 and 1587 – since the strike began.
"We are coming to the Region of York headquarters to make our point that this strike is a problem that must be addressed by the politicians who caused it through privatization of what should be a publicly-owned and operated service," Bob Kinnear, president of ATU Local 113, said in a news release Wednesday.
The unions and their members aren't happy with the wage disparity between York Region and other public transit services in the GTA.
ATU Local 1587 President Ray Doyle said he anticipated a lengthy strike.
"The members are very determined to stick this one out," Doyle said in the news release. "They are tired of being treated as second-class workers when, in fact, they provide York Region passengers with a first-class service."
ATU locals 113 and 1587 represent nearly 600 workers who drive or maintain York Region Transit buses but are under contract with Viva, Miller Transit and First Student.

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