City rejects retaliation claims in face of union backlash

The response followed a delegation from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 615, whose president, Darcy Pederson, told council the timing of the cuts — which came days after BTS workers unionized in March — pointed to a targeted move by the city.

He called it a “clear case of retaliation against transit workers,” adding the decision sent “a chilling message to workers across our community.”

Hawtin said the decision was based on financial concerns and preceded the union vote.

“We were subsidizing each ride to the tune of $16 per ride,” she said, adding that council voted unanimously after the BTS board made them aware of the cost on Jan. 7 and directed the organization to work with city administration to reduce the budget.

“The City of North Battleford doesn’t operate transit. We don’t deal with HR matters within transit. BTS deals with their own matters. City council approves a budget, approves the route, and that’s our relationship with transit.”

Council ended up approving a $178,079 grant to BTS for 2025. Hawtin said there has been no reduction in handy bus service, which serves riders with mobility challenges.

“I believe we contribute approximately 70 per cent of the cost to the handy bus, and that was increased by $3,346 for the year 2025, and there’s been no reduction to service of handy bus,” she said.

Some route hours were also revised following community feedback.

“Battlefords Transit’s service initially had proposed an eight till 3 p.m. route, and they’ve since changed the hours to be 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and not over over lunch time when they indicated ridership was low at that time,” Hawtin said.

Coun. Greg Lightfoot, chair of BTS, said the city is not eligible for provincial or federal transit subsidies because its annual ridership falls short of the 30,000-trip threshold required by other levels of government.

“It’s 100 per cent taxpayer-funded,” he said. “We just don’t qualify for any subsidy, so it was becoming a burden of the public and the taxpayer.”

He added that all stops are still being served despite the shift from a two-bus route to one.

“All we did is we just went from a two bus route to a one bus route,” he said. “You still can get on the stops at any time within the system.”

Both Lightfoot and Hawtin acknowledged the concerns raised by the union and residents, but said the city faced cost pressures.

“We want to make sure that we’re serving everybody in the best way we can, but we also have to make sure that our taxes remain reasonable and we’re spending within limits,” Hawtin said. “It’s about this delicate balance of willingness to pay and what level of service we can have.”

Lightfoot said capital costs have risen sharply in recent years.

“We were able to buy a bus for $75,000 to $80,000 and now [it’s] close to $200,000,” he said. “It’s become a situation where we just had to cut back for the time being.”

Council said it plans to explore alternative transit models over the next 16 months, including systems like Lloydminster’s, where seniors receive subsidized taxi rides.

“There’s different models out there that we want to have a closer look at and see if there’s a way we can incorporate them,” Lightfoot said. “We’re hoping that we can find some other models that we can incorporate and work, or other types of service you can make sure so the public does have proper transportation within the community.”

Council voted to receive the delegation.

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

by battlefordsNOW Staff

City rejects retaliation claims in face of union backlash

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