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Page 4, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, December 7, 1994 Transit drivers approve new contract By Mike Kowalski Whitby Transit bus drivers have a new collective agreement. By a margin of 76 per cent, the drivers approved terms of a con- tract settlement reached less than 12 hours before they were set to go on strike last Wednes- day. The drivers, members of Local 222 of the Canadian Auto Wor-i kers (CAW) union, were pre-1 pared to walk off the job at nidnight if they did not have an agreement with Tréntway-Wagar Whitbys87 full- an part-time drivers are employees|of Trent- wa -Wagar. e company is in the fourth year of a fiveyear contract with the municipahty to supply dri- vers and maintenance for the Town-owned buses. The new deal, which took effect Dec. 1, provides for a wage increase of almost 21 per cent for full-time drivers over the next three years and 19 per cent for part-time employees. Under the previous agreement which expired in 1992, Whitby Transit drivers were paid $12 to $13.75 per hour. Language covering the hand- ling of grievances and other work-related matters was also improved in the new contract. "Driving a bus is nothing com- pared to this," union bargaining committee chair Roxane MacKay said of the pressures felt by all parties involved in the negotia- tions. This is the drivers first con- tract with Trentway under the CAW banner. They were previously repre- sented by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), but left the ATU last year to join the CAW. MacKay said the union concen- trated primarily on wages and improving procedures used to resolve work-related problems. The drivers last received a pay hike in 1991. «We needed better wages. That's where we put our effort," said MacKay. "At least 25 of us are happy," she added, in noting the 76 per cent ratification vote. to all those who generously contributed several hundred pounds of food to the Whitby Free Press Santa Claus Parade FOOD DRIVE Thanks to our carriers who helped collect it. All food donated will be distributed by the Salvation Army to needy families in Whitby. "I'm pleased it's behind us," echoed a relieved Jim Devlin, president of Trentway-Wagar. "Now we can get on with pro- vidin service to the Town of Whitby," he said. Whitby Mayor Tom Edwards was not available for comment on the settiement. Tnentway's contract with Whitby is the only municipal service it provides, Devlin said. The remainderof its business comes from charters, inter-city service and school bus contracts. Four years ago, Town council awarde its transit contract to Trentway, after having used Charterways Transportation since 1980. Trentway came in with a low bid of $9.2 million to win the contract which expires in Novem- ber 1995. Whitby girl recognized for 'roll' Tara Perry, 10, of Whitby recently received an Ontario government award for her "stop, drop and roll." That's the action she took when her clothing caught fire from a sparkler on the Victoria D weekend. &e Grade 5 student remem- bered a lesson from her teacher --she·fell to the ground and rolled over and over until the flames were out. She received first-degree burns to her leg and upper thigh, but her fast reaction may have saved her life. She was one of 25 individuals and organizations from Ontario who received a Fire Prevention and Public Education award.