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Mayor Begs Feds to End Ottawa Transit Strike

by polylogue | December 24, 2008 at 12:30 pm

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Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien has called on the federal government to get involved to end the 15 day transit strike. The World Junior Hockey Championships begin in Ottawa at the end of the week and the mayor is worried about mayhem due to the strike.

At a news conference Wednesday morning, O'Brien said he has asked Labour Minister Rona Ambrose to call a supervised vote by striking transit workers on a new offer issued by the city Tuesday. The city says the labour minister has the power to call such a vote under Sec. 108.1 of the Canada Labour Code.

"That's going to be the fastest, most effective way of getting back to where the drivers are working because we believe, fundamentally ... the majority of drivers think that the offer we've made is fair," said O'Brien.