Whitby Free Press, 17 Oct 1990, p. 3

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wmFMFE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17,19lm. PAGE8 Counil awards bus, eontraet to. new e ompIiany Itemas from Whitby Council@* agenda(s) Monday, October 15, 1M9 Planning.and- Development Committee That proceedlngs commence to have the Gmeen-Lawler House at 616 Kng St. deslgnated as a heriag structure under the Ontalo Hertage Act. The house was bult ln 1876 byWiliam IGreen. Ho dled in 1884 but thefamlly contlnued to own R :until 1901. R was eventually soId to Arthur Lawler, a former mayor of Whltby. R«com 110dtocouncil m'Tat proceedlngs begî'n to have the Lewis Houck House at 21 0 Byron St. N., deslgnated as a heriage ,structure under the Ontario Hertage Act. The house was bulft ln 1859 by Lewis Houck, Reom0d t council ma"t stRe plan application for a 107-unittownhouse deéIvelopmentat the southwest corner of Dryden <Blvd.a ýnd Garrard Rd. be approved1. Fram iDevelopment -Coq. is building the project on behaif of the Durham Non-Proft Housing Corp. -Recommended to council mat a àsite plan app :)lication* firom 387954 Ontario{td. for. a bank machine next*toa gas bar and donut shop at 320 T -ohickso Rd.S. be approved. Recommende£d to councîl Operation's Committee That a $750 grant, f rom the Town's special grants for amateur championshlp- competitions f ujd,be- provided to theWhitby ropresentatives who particlpated ln the World' Mounted GAmes in ýSwansea, Wales ln Aug ust, 1 990. Provisions had been made Ir! the 1990 budget toprovilde for those f unds. Recoùmmunded to'council recommend to council that thybe struck off the roll. I t]ecommended to.council That the Town accept the l0W tender of Vaughan Paving Ltd., for $45,1 80, for the permanent restoration of road cuts made by the utilities durlng the past two years. The cost, estlmated at $76,600, has already been recovered from the utilitles. Redtoc ta C"il By Mike Kowalski Whitby's bus service will be in new hands next month. But whether the familiar faces behind the wheel are stili there remains to be seen. By a, 4-3 vote, Town council last week approved a $9.2 mil- lion tender from Trentway- Wagar Ine, te operate Whitby, Transit for the next five years. But, no sooner had council made its decision than the move was termed a «seil-our? of the 45< full-timie-,and part-time drivers now- employed by the current operator., Drivers and. their union are worried they will be without jobs once Trentway takesover. (e separate story.), However., cou ncil's decision is conditional on the drivers being offered employment by the new company., Trentway's tender was almost $1 million lower than the bid submitted by Charterways Transportation Ltd., which has operated Whitby's bus service since its inoeption in 1980. Charterways' current contract with the Town expires Nov. 24. Trentway ,will assume responsi- bility for the service two days later. A decision on TrentwaLys ten- der, the lowest of five submitted, was put on hold the previouq, week by council's operattions committee. Worried about wages and job' security of drivers, the commit- tee delayed votmng on staffs recommendation pending further investigation of Trentway~s bid. A re-port from Town adminis- trator Bill Wallace which- addiree the committee's con- cerns was presented te council. But beforeê council could debate the matter, a procedural wrangle developed. OfficiaIs of both Trentway and the drivers'union, the (Janadian Auto Workers, (CAW), had requested permission'te ddes council. (The CAW had*.only been certi- fied as the drivers' bargaining agent the week before. The dr- vers were previously represented by the Teamsters.) Councillor Ross Batten asked if the delegations had first appeared before the. operations committee. When informed-! that only Trentway presideint Jim Devlin had done so, Batten said council policy dictated that ,delegations must first appear before commit- tee. p DepuyMayor Tom Edwards argued that the rule should be waived-since the CAW had not yet been certified when commit- tee met. Edwards said the unon was also unaware the. subject would be dealt with at the committee meeting. <Mayor Bob Attersley who is also Durhamn RegionalI Police commission chairman, was. absent from the meeting on com- mission business.) Councillor Joe'Bugelli objected te any- delégations addreing council. - "We have a public tender' before us and we're being, asked te hear from a,, representative- from -a labor union for whatever reapon," said Bugelli. «Vie should focus entiely on the matter at hand and ot cloud it with other issues.» S Councillor Lynda Buffett agreed, saying that hearingfrom the union would turn'the issue* ite, a «plitical football."» .Counceillor* Marcel Bruinelle disagreed. and said council, appeared te be «afraid» of *what it m henr. oe Drumm called Brunelle's remarks unfair, the latter apôlo-*zed claiming that it was merlyhis «interpre-e tation» of council's feelings With only BruneNe a nd Edwards dissenting,: council ruled against hearing thé depu- tations. During debate-'on the tender, Drumm said he has always backed . a transit system but cunot suport, this recom- miendation. The tender specifications pro- vide-for 15 Town-owned buses-te be operated an average of 46,000 hours per year. «Frankly, I don't think we need that, much, I think, it can be shaved te, get our costs down," said Drmm. "I dont tÏ"n we canafford a $9.2'million service right now.» Bugelli said sodme -councillors were- losing * sight of 'the real issue before council., "Here is. a situation 'here we can s9ave ahnost $1 million' but some want te question, it," said Heýisaid council* would be «liard preséd defending itself for rejecting TrUentways .bid',and :would liely be challenged in court. -The Town owns the buses, it's Up te us te pRt the best possible useoftemsaid Bugelli. Trentway'es bid wo6uld reduce the coat of runningr a bus by $1.87 an hour from $88.48. The company.expects te, make savings because its garage will be located in Oshawva, which is dloser than Charterways' facility in Bow manville. The amount of wasted mileage SEE PAGE 31 Bus ýdrivers' union promises fih By Mike Kowalski Union representatives for. Town bus drivers promise te ftbyrasit. in operaters of .Although'not disclosing details of their strte ý Canadian Aute Workers (CAW officials vowed' last week te oppose. a decision awarding. the -Whitby Transit contract tea, anew company, ."They won't get away with it, we'll do what we have te dop» said Gordon Vickers, CAW chair- man for Oshawa Transit drivers. . It'not -over. They (council), can think that it is but we're going te take them..on, well fight By a 4-3 vote, Town council approved a $9.2,million tender from Trentway-Wagar mc. te operate Whitby's bus service for t he next five years. The decision, means 45 full- time and part-time drivers now employed by Charterways Trans- portation Ltd., the current opera- t, could be without jobs when, the contract expires next month. However, a condition of the tender is that the drivers be "offered» employment by the new companly. (See separate stery.) «That s no guarantee of jobs,» said Vickers. "They (Trentway) will bring in their own, people and will offer part-time jobs andfrige jobst the drivers. "Maybe a few will get jobs but most will be unemployed.» Vickers also had harsh words for council not allowing Jim Nimigon, a vice-president of CAW Local 222, to. make a pre- sentation. «T'hey didn't even have the' decency te, let a representative of the workers speak. I haven't heard that kind of talk ini years.» Vickers charged that council, was worried about the CAW becoming the bargaining agent for the drivers. «Tlhey were. aware of the decer- tification, they didn't want us comingin.» The drivers decertifled their former union, the Teamsters, and voted to join the CAW. The latter- was formally certifled as the drivers' union two weelao. "The drivers-just got decerti- fied and then they thrýew this at us,» said Davd Thompson, a Local 222 officiai. (During the council meeting Thompson was reprimanded by Deput ayo Tom Edwards for bis ý cmente frorn the public.., Although the CAW will' have no legal standing with Trentway, Vickers was not deterred. «We're looking at several options. We'll do what we have. te do," said Vickers. (Trentway employees are, represented by their own associa- tion which is recognized by the Canada Labor Relations Board,. New employees must become members of t he association.) Councillor Marcel Brunelle, who voted against the Trentway tender, conceeded that s'ome jobs ma blost. «Tat's the best we ca i do. 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