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Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1587 members plan to launch a strike at GO Transit next month if the agency doesn’t reconsider a two-year wage freeze.

Yesterday, the union applied to the Ontario Ministry of Labour for a “no board” report, which “starts the clock ticking toward a possible strike” on Sept. 19, ATU Local 1587 officials said in a prepared statement. If the job action occurs, it will be the first time the union has issued a strke against GO Transit.

ATU Local 1587 represents 1,530 GO Transit workers, including bus operators, coach technicians, station attendants, office and professional staff, and service personnel. In a recent strike vote, 95 percent of union members at GO Transit supported the job action.

The strike “will most definitely happen if management clings to its position of no wage increase unless it is taken out of existing benefits costs,” said ATU Local 1587 President Ray Doyle. "We will continue to negotiate, but we need to see steps toward fairness.”

GO Transit officials did not issue a statement responding to the union’s proposed strike.