Manitoba Greyhound workers brace for layoffs

Greyhound drivers and staff in Manitoba are bracing for layoff notices later this week.

A spokesperson for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1374 told CBC News that about 200 employees have been told to expect the move by Thursday or Friday.

Stuart Kendrick, senior vice-president of Greyhound Canada, is flying to Winnipeg this week to meet with in the provincial transportation department about the planned cuts in service.

Greyhound Canada dropped a bomb on Sept. 3 when it announced that unless it got $15 million in government aid, it would cease passenger bus operations in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario because itwas being forced to operate unprofitable rural routes without government help.

Passenger service in Manitoba will end Oct. 2 and routes in northwestern Ontario will stop operating Dec. 2, Greyhound said, though parcel shipping will be unaffected.

The service cuts would kill 30 jobs in northwestern Ontario, according to the Amalgamated Transit Union.

The ultimatum has greatly concerned politicians fromsmaller Manitoba communities who are worried they will become isolated if the bus routes serving their towns are cut.

Officials in Manitoba have said they want Greyhound to reveal which bus routes are unprofitable before offering the company any subsidies.

The company, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Greyhound Lines Inc., also said it is reviewing its operations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, the Yukon andNorthwest Territories.

The company is the largest provider of intercity bus transportation in Canada, serving 700 communities with 1,000 daily departures. It also operates in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

In August, Greyhound opened a new, $6.3-million bus terminal near Winnipeg's international airport, about eight kilometres from an older facility in the same area.

At the time, Greyhound had planned to run its 48 daily trips to places such as Brandon, Man., Calgary and Minneapolis, Minn., as well as its courier business, from that terminal.

WhenGreyhound madeitsannouncement in early September, Federal Transport Minister John Baird accused the companyof trying to bully the provinces by announcing the service cuts. The company was being "heavy-handed" in an effort to get subsidies, he said, and offered no financial aid.