Hamilton's HSR buses running, tentative deal reached Thursday

Negotiators for Hamilton bus drivers have reached a tentative deal in the contract negotiations with the city and that means HSR buses are running this morning.

The deal was announced just before 6 a.m. today. But there was word the buses would be on the roads Thursday as usual around 1.a.m., as both sides kept talking past the midnight time that a strike could happen.

HSR drivers were in a legal strike position as of 12:01 a.m. on Thursday. There are no details on the deal. Both city council and the membership of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 107 will have to ratify the deal. There's no word on when that will happen.

Both sides met overnight Thursday to try to reach an agreement, said city spokesperson Mike Kirkopoulos.

Earlier this week, he said negotiations would continue "around the clock" until they're successful.

Thursday morning, bus stops around downtown's busiest corridors were full of relieved commuters, though any joy they felt was tempered by chilly fog and rain. Students and workers talked of contingency plans they were glad they didn't have to take.

Tami Anderson usually takes a bus downtown from her home near Gage Park to catch a GO bus to Toronto. She thought she might have to take a vacation day — not exactly "an ideal vacation," she said — or force her non-morning-person brother to wake up early to take her. She was grateful to hear on the radio this morning that the strike was off.

An HSR bus arrives at a stop in Gore Park the morning a tentative deal was struck between drivers and the city, avoiding a strike. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)

For many commuters, getting to and from work is not the only trip in the day. Jessica Ballard said she's a single mom and student who uses the bus to take her two-year-old son to daycare before getting to school herself. She was relieved the strike wasn't happening this morning, but emphasized her hope that the city take care of its bus drivers.

"The city needs to treat the HSR with kindness, compassion and respect because they have a trying job," she said.

Among the issues at play for the drivers: ATU wants an agreement for a length other than four years to prevent a municipal election from delaying the next contract negotiations. The city wants a four-year agreement.

The ATU represents 658 bus drivers and mechanics.

Hamilton bus drivers earned a maximum of $29.44 per hour in 2014, in the upper middle range of comparator cities. TTC operators make $32.03 and GO Transit operators earn $31.88. In Waterloo, they earned $28.27 and in Guelph, $27.21.

The bus stops were buzzing as if nothing had happened:

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