Hamilton City Council has agreed to a new four-year Collective Agreement with ATU Local 107, ending a seven-day HSR bus strike. The deal includes raises and enhanced benefits for workers after tense negotiations. Photo credit: X/HSR
After a tense standoff between the City of Hamilton and Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 107 that saw all Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) buses suspended for a seven-day strike, it appears that the situation has finally been resolved.
In a special council meeting on November 27, Hamilton City Council voted unanimously to ratify the new four-year Collective Agreement with the union formally.
A tentative agreement was already reached between union leaders and the city on November 16 at 2 AM, just days before the city hosted the 110th Grey Cup between the Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Union members then ratified that tentative deal in a vote on November 23, with 81 percent in favour of accepting the deal.
ATU Local 107 represents HSR bus operators, mechanics, and other transit workers.
Members had been without a renewed contract since December 31, 2022, and the negotiations with the city had been ongoing since the start of 2023.
The four-year agreement covers January 1, 2023, until December 31, 2026.
ATU Local 107 workers will receive a 3.75 per cent retroactive raise for 2023, and a three per cent raise each year in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
Workers will also be receiving enhanced benefits.
The average transit worker currently makes about $72,000 a year.
The union initially sought an increase in wages of seven per cent in 2023 and four per cent each year in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
Horwath commented after the agreement was reached that “strikes are difficult.”
“I thank the public for their patience and understanding while HSR was out of service,” she continued.
“I know this disruption had very real impacts on people’s lives.”
She later added that the final agreement is “fair” to both “employees and the people of Hamilton.”
During negotiations, the city argued that accepting the union’s wage demands would have resulted in increased taxes at a time when city staff have already projected that residents would see taxes rise by 14.2 per cent.
While the rhetoric and press releases were positive once an agreement was reached, negotiations were tense.
During the strike, City of Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath issued a statement accusing ATU Local 107 President Eric Tuck of launching a personal attack against the city’s executive director of human resources, Laura Fontana.
During a press conference, Tuck had singled out Fontana and commented on her salary.
There were also comments by union leaders saying that Horwath was not living up to the labour-friendly reputation she sought to build when she was leader of the Ontario NDP from 2009 to 2022.
Of note, Tuck was actually very nearly elected to Council himself back in October 2022.
Tuck ran for City Councillor in Hamilton’s Ward 4 (Hamilton East), placing second and receiving 1,816 votes (19.88 percent of the vote).
Tammy Hwang won the seat with 2,101 votes (23.00 percent).
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
