Bus strike's over

The buses will soon be running again, but the bad blood may not be going anywhere.

As London Transit workers voted yesterday by 72% to accept a contract deal that ends their 29-day strike, union boss Pat Hunniford suggested their unresolved concerns could become a problem for Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best in next year’s civic election.

“I think it may become a big election issue and we’ll see what happens next fall,” said Hunniford, who clashed with the mayor over comments he made last week.

“The issues about understaffing and no lunch breaks and the issue about violence in the workplace . . . none of that stuff got addressed,” he said, referring to other worker concerns.

Work should resume this morning and the London Transit Commission expects some buses to be running by Saturday. But it’ll be three weeks before full service is restored, with many buses needing safety inspections before they’re road-ready.

The deal — to run three years and nine months, retroactive to July 1 — ends a strike that left 80,000 transit riders in the lurch. It gives workers a hike in wages and benefits costing 13.2%, the LTC says.

The deal will increase the LTC’s total costs by $3.9 million, general manager Larry Ducharme said.

Wages for drivers will go from $23.08 to $26 by the deal’s end. For skilled-trades, such as mechanics, they’ll go from $26.81 to $30.29.

The outcome of the union vote, held at the Polish Hall on Hill St., drew boos from some workers frustrated by the strike’s result.

Financial pressure on union members likely led to the deal’s acceptance, said 12-year driver Robert Willmott.

“What’s going to break this . . . is all the poor suckers who can’t afford to take care of their families,” he said, adding he’d loaned thousands of dollars to fellow strikers.

He’s frustrated that what he considers key issues — such as workplace safety

— weren’t addressed.

“As far as I’m concerned (with this deal), the strike was a complete waste of time.”

Hunniford says his concerns about driver safety may be even higher now than before the strike — the first in three decades — began.

“Either through city hall or the (LTC), they painted us as greedy, overdemanding, we were hurting every segment of the population . . . and now we’ve got to go back and face that.”

Ducharme said it’s unclear what affect the strike could have on the LTC budget, or whether it will affect fare rates.

“I’m just happy we have a new collective agreement,” he said.

Anyone who holds a November bus pass can get a refund for missed service or a credit toward the purchase of a January pass.

The strike took a particularly ugly turn last week, when Hunniford said of the mayor: “If Anne Marie hears footsteps, it could be us” — a comment he says was in reference to pickets potentially marching outside city hall.

The mayor, who wasn’t involved in the contract negotiations, called the comment an intimidation tactic and sought legal advice.

When asked yesterday if he’d consider sitting down with DeCicco-Best to talk things out, Hunniford was blunt.

“I’m not that diplomatic,” he said. “When she got upset over (those comments), my goal was to get back to the table to get a contract and she was more worried about . . . getting political points and discrediting me over a comment I made.”

Last night, DeCicco-Best brushed off those remarks.

“It’s personal once again and I’m not going to get into it. (His past comments) have caused enough trouble,” she said.