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| Photo taken by me in Sackville, New Brunswick. |
Two days later on February 6th another article was released from the local newspaper on Prince Edward Island called "The Guardian." Bus Line and Locked Out Workers Going Back to the Negotiating Table (The Guardian - PEI) ATU 1229, and Acadian Lines Respresentatives went back to the table on February 11th with the help of a mediator, and negotiations lasted all day, and continued into Sunday. The workers, and Acadian have not spoken since November 25th, and the lockout and strike had lasted since December 2nd.
According to this article: Acadian Line Contract Negotiations Continue (PEI CBC News), Acadian lost around $2 million dollars running the intercity coaches in New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island in the last year. This is not surprising because there are so many routes that are unneeded, and unprofitable in the province of New Brunswick where as there are two daily trips to one stop on Prince Edward Island. But in the two plus months that there was no service in either province quite a bit of revenue was lost because it was one of the busiest time of year being the Christmas/New Year season. Acadian has probably received their share of angry emails, and even on FaceBook you can see people are angry, but a lot of stupid/amusing things are said. The workers did want to work this out from the beginning. The economy is horrible, and the price of living has increased, and honestly I do not think it is fair that the Nova Scotia, and Quebec workers received a raise while New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island were left high, and dry. The strike/lock out is always the worst way to deal with these types of problems though.
We are in the third month, and after the negotiations this weekend it failed horribly, and I quote "In fact we feel that there is a lack of seriousness, and willingness to resolve the issues on the part of the union. No dates are set to return to the table." The company was better run when Irving owned Acadian, and even when we had the Greyhound buses in the province. This is getting quite ridiculous, and I cannot believe they are still going to leave two provinces with an intercity bus system." To wake up to this this morning is ridiculous. Acadian Lines Talks Fail to Resolve Dispute (CBC News PEI)
During this strike shuttles are available so I peeked on the prices, and the bus is a lot cheaper, and so is the train if you are lucky enough to live in a town, or city with a train. The prices for a shuttle are ridiculous considering you had to book it, and share it with people but it is hard to find people who would be traveling to the same place. Also they are the 15 passenger vans that have been banned in New Brunswick after an incident in 2008 that killed seven school students, and the wife of the coach from Bathurst High. I won't go in any van bigger than a standard size myself after hearing about that incident. I was in high school myself at the time in grade eleven, and it was a horrible tragedy.
For previous information on the strike I have written two other blog articles:
Acadian Bus Lines New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island Strike
Acadian Bus Lines Possible Arbitration - Update
