More Codiac Transpo service interruptions 'likely'

Codiac Transpo is temporarily halting several buses once again on Thursday as a result ofan ongoing contract dispute with its drivers and is warning passengers the level of service will likely get worse.

Codiac Transpo says the interruptions are caused by continuing problems with staffing.

"The inability to hire drivers and mechanics because of the ongoing threat of strike, coupled with retirements and long and short term absencesboth planned and unplannedmean that there are not enough drivers to drive buses on all the required routes," the company said in a statement.

Thetransit company alsointerruptedservice on May 10.

"We are doing everything we can to operate the service as reliably and as fully as we can under the circumstances," said Don MacLellan, the City of Monctons general manager of community safety services, who is responsible for Codiac Transpo.

"However, the level of service will likely get worse," he said.

That could include late buses and a further reduction of service with little or no advance notice, said MacLellan.

Shortage of drivers, mechanics

"We cant hire drivers or mechanics and we are faced with more and more absences on a daily basis and our drivers cannot keep putting in the overtime that they are currently doing. Its not sustainable over the long term," he said.

There are currently 53 drivers and an average of five daily absences, said MacLellan.

By comparison, in February, when Codiac Transpo was operating its full service on all routes, there were 60 drivers and an average of three daily absences.

'Its putting increasing pressure on our drivers and other staff which leads to more absences and in turn creates more issues.'Don MacLellan, City of Moncton

As a result, many drivers are working up to 15 hours of overtime per week, he said.

"Its putting increasing pressure on our drivers and other staff which leads to more absences and in turn creates more issues."

Part of the problem, said MacLellan, is that under the current collective agreement, any new drivers must be hired on a casual basis first and then get promoted to permanent status based on performance and merit.

"Once prospective drivers understand that we cannot guarantee when or how many hours they will work in a given week, they are very hesitant to leave their current employment for a job with Codiac Transpo," he said.

In addition, some of the drivers who are hired and trained leave because they can't get guaranteed hours or set schedules, MacLellan said.

To make matters worse, one of Codiac Transpo's four mechanics has left and the companyhas been unable to find new mechanics who arewilling to leave their current employmentto join Codiac, given the threat of strike action,he said.

The company has been outsourcing some of the maintenance work to try to lessen the impact on operations, said MacLellan.

The company and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1290 are stuck in a contract fight.

The union, which is in a strike position, wants $55,000 a year for its drivers.

The citys latest offer, which was rejected by the union, would've brought a bus drivers annual salary to $51,000 in 2015.

Thursday's affected routes include:

• #6 Elmwood B's first trip from 6:35 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. has been cancelled and will begin at 7:15 from Highfield Square. An alternate route is the 6:40 a.m. trip on #5 Elmwood.
• Express #3's first trip from 6:45 a.m. to 7:05 a.m. will not run. The bus willstart at 7:15 at Plaza Blvd. Customers are advised to take #1 Downtown Malls.

Codiac Transpo operates in Moncton, Dieppe, Riverview and Lakeside.

The unionized workers have been without a contract since June 2010.