Mayor Charlie Clark rejects Saskatoon transit union proposal

Saskatoon city council has pushed back against pressure from Saskatoon Transit workers to accept a contract dealfrom their union, saying the city can't "in good conscience" accept the proposal.

On Saturday, the Amalgamated Transit Union localbegan work-to-rule action against the city, refusing to work overtime. The move has already caused route disruptions.

• Transit union launches job action Saturday
• Transit pension woes difficult to solve says law professor

It appears Saskatoon Transit workers are in it for the long haul

"As long as our members are willing to stand behind what the directive was, then we're willing to go as long as it takes," union local president JimYakubowskitold CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.

No deal

But Clark saidthe city's governance and prioritiescommittee would not be accepting the deal.

Speaking after the committee's special in-camera meeting at City Hall on Monday, he described the union'sjob action as "unacceptable."

"We don't see a way to move from where we're at. We've moved on wages, we've moved on the pension in a variety of different aspects and we've offered various different solutions related to it," he said.

"We want to get to the end of this, we want to get a deal, but we can't in good conscience accept what is being demanded on the ATU side."

He said the city would be willing to go back to the negotiating table but it would not accept the ATU's currentproposal.

Clark said accepting the ATU dealwould undermine its negotiations with eight other unions thathad collectively bargained with the city.

Council was unanimous in its decision to maintain the city's most recent offer.

Long-running dispute

Saskatoon Transit workers have been at an impasse with the city for years. The union hasn't had a collective agreement since 2012, and deep divisions over the workers pension plan have kept both sides at the bargaining table for a prolonged period.

The union believes the city is moving towards a defined target pension plan, where the employer is able to reduce pensionpayoutsif the value of the plan drops. A defined benefit guarantees workers receive the samepayoutonce retired. The city denies it is doing this.

"Basically, the only difference between the twois we would continue to bargain any changes [to the plan]in the future, which is what we've had since 1964," saidYakubowski.

Currently, both sides are waiting for the results of an arbitration case that was launched in Aprilon the issue of whether the city had the legal authority to make changes to the workers' pension plan.