Ottawa braces for transit strike as midnight deadline nears

Ottawa should prepare for a transit strike at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

At a news conference, the mayor said therehad been no new talks with the transit union, and he expectedmore than 2,200 OC Transpo drivers, dispatchers and maintenance workers to walk off the job within hours.

The workers are represented by Amalgamated Transit Union local 279, which on Mondayrejected what the city called its "final offer" and broke off talks.

On Tuesday, a federal mediator tried unsuccessfully to get both sides back to the table.The union said the main unresolved issue had to do with scheduling and its demands that drivers be able to choose their shifts based on seniority.

Even before the strike began, severe winter storm conditions were creating hassles and headaches for commuters across the city.

"They got 20 cm of snow on Tuesday and it's turned to freezing rain," said Claire Martin, chief meteorologist at the CBC News weather centre.

"These are some of the worst driving conditions I've ever seen," Martin said. "If you don't have to drive, don't."

Heading into Wednesday morning, the city remains under a winter storm warning, Martin said.

Convoys of extracarswere expected to clog Ottawa's roads if transit service is disrupted.

Ottawa police issued a warning to drivers to use extra caution, and the City of Ottawa has advised that parking will be restricted onstreets overnight to allow for snow clearing.

However, public works is expected to reopen two lanes of the Chaudire interprovincial bridge Wednesday, easing some of the existing extra traffic congestion of the past week. The bridge was closed last Wednesday night due to structural issues.

OC Transpo director Alain Mercier said Tuesday that employers shouldhelp their employeesdeal with the strike by allowingmore flexible scheduling.

Carleton Universityand the University of Ottawa aretellingstudents that examinations will go ahead as scheduled even if there is a strike.

The universities are boosting the number of shuttle buses running between:

• The main University of Ottawa campus and Carleton University.
• Thecentre of the mainUniversity of Ottawa and a parking lot at 200 Lees Avenue on the edge of the campus.
• The main University of Ottawa campus and the Health Sciences Centre on Smyth Road, near the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and the Ottawa Hospital, general campus.

Commuters mull carpools, car rentals

In the meantime, the City of Ottawa has issued plans for the strike that include easing some parking restrictions.

The City of Gatineau is also providingtwo extraparkinglots for commuters:

• A 400-space lotsouth of the Robert-Guertin centre, accessible fromMorin Street,Carillon Street anddes Allumettires Boulevard.
• A 60-space lot at the site of the former Hull mini golf, accessible fromMontcalm Streetat Highway 50.

On Tuesday morning, transit riders waiting at bus stopsin theblowing snowworried about what they would do in the event of a strike.

"If they go on strike, then I'll probably be screwed," said Richard Hachey, who was heading to his second day of a new job and didn't have a lot of sympathetic words for those involved in the labour dispute.

"I think it's honestly selfish ... thinking of themselves and not people going to work."

Marcel Walsh, who was waiting for a bus to Lincoln Fields, where he works at a group home, had a different perspective.

"People should be paid for fair work, and if it's a labour dispute, I support the bus strike," he said.

Walsh said he's not sure what he'll do if the buses stop running, but he may carpool.

"Or I'm going to rent a car," he said. When asked if he could afford that, he said, "I don't have much of a choice it's not very nice weather."

Derrick LeBlanc, who works on Prince of Wales Drive, said if he can't arrange a carpool, he won't be able to go into work on Wednesday.

Last week, the transit union voted 98 per cent in favour of a strike if contract issues weren't resolved by the strike deadline.

Bus drivers last walked off the job in 1996 for24 days.