Holiday shut down worries Acadian passengers

Passengers at the Charlottetown depot of Acadian Bus Lines are concerned a labour dispute could shut down service Friday as the holiday season approaches.

The labour dispute will not only affect passenger service in the Maritimes, but parcel delivery as well.

Natalie MacDonald was boarding a bus for Nova Scotia Wednesday morning. It's a ride she takes a lot.

"Students going home for the holidays, and anybody who doesn't have a car, or anything like that, it's going to really going to disrupt them," said MacDonald.

"It's like an affordable way to travel, very affordable. And people are not going to be able to fly, because they're not going to be able to afford it. And this you don't have to book in advance. You just come and get your ticket and go."

Unless there is a last minute settlement, the last Acadian bus will leave P.E.I. Thursday at 2 p.m.

Lock out

Acadian notified 59 bus drivers, mechanics, maintenance workers and customer service representatives in New Brunswick and P.E.I. that they will be locked out as of 6:30 a.m. Friday.

'We don't want to leave people and buses and equipment stranded.' — Marc-Andre Varin, Acadian

The notification came after 88 per cent of those employees rejected the latest offer from the company, and the union announced its intention to strike Friday.

Acadian's Marc-Andre Varin said given the threat of a walkout, the company had no choice but to shut down operations.

"We don't want to leave people and buses and equipment stranded in the middle of their journeys," said Varin.

"That's why as a reactive measure we decided to go with a lock out."

Varin said there will be some schedule changes Thursday night as operations wind down. The labour dispute in New Brunswick will also affect Acadian bus service between Nova Scotia and Quebec.