‘Ottawa’ Outaouais Transit Service Back to Normal as Drivers, Mechanics call Halt to Pressure tactics
It should be business as usual on Société de transport de l’Outaouais routes Friday as unionzed drivers and mechanics put an end to pressure tactics to try to reach a contract deal.
An agreement to go to arbitration was reached Thursday night, following a day of high-level meetings between union and transport company leadership, as well as a session with Gatineau Mayor Maxim Pedneaud-Jobin.
None of the participants would comment on the resolution, but a joint release said that the parties had agreed to arbitration in the presence of a ministry of labour mediator.
The agreement came after the third of a series of weekly one-day walkouts by the drivers that threw traffic and commuters into disarray.
It also means the end of pressure tactics that included reporting even the most minor bus defects, as well as wearing non-uniform attire such as jeans and message T-shirts on the routes.
