Labour strife reached a boiling point amongst GTA transit workers as Monday morning’s rush-hour commute loomed.

About 560 drivers and mechanics from York Region Transit and Viva express route were set to walk off the job at 4 a.m. Monday, said Bob Kinnear, who represents Viva workers as president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113.

“We’re prepared to stay off the job as long as it takes,” Kinnear said.

As well, 1,500 GO bus drivers and workers were preparing to strike early Monday but the situation was resolved late Sunday night.

The York and Viva strikes will mean headaches for tens of thousands of commuters.

Approximately 73,000 rides are taken each day on YRT and Viva. The strike would affect 60 per cent of service in the York Region, said YRT general manager Rick Leary.

YRT agents plan to drive by bus stops to make sure no passengers are waiting for a service that won't arrive, Leary said. Commuters can get up-to-date travel information online at www.yrt.ca.

Travel will be especially difficult for the nearly 50,000 students at York University’s Keele campus.

The university is almost exclusively served by GO Bus and YRT for those taking transit from outside the TTC zone.

Services in the region’s southwest will not be affected.

Viva workers rejected their employer Veolia Transport's latest offer this week, Kinnear said.

At $22 per hour, Viva and York Region Transit operators make $7 less per hour than their GTA counterparts, he said.

They want to “begin to close the gap” between their benefits, sick leave and pay when compared with the other services, he said.

There were no further discussions scheduled between the two parties.

The buses will be parked on Monday as members make plans for the strike.

The GO workers’ transit union and Metrolinx — the provincial agency that operates GO Transit — was stalled in talks that lasted overnight Saturday and until late Sunday when the strike was averted, said Ray Doyle, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587.

“We had to move, but we forced them to the wall,” Doyle said shortly after the resolution.

He said a ratification vote would probably be held by the end of the week, but not before Thursday or Friday

Doyle noted that while the York region transit strike would be going ahead, there would be no picket lines going up on Monday or Tuesday.

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About 37,000 passengers use GO Bus weekly.

Commuters are encouraged to visit www.smartcommute.ca to learn more about other transportation options such as carpooling and cycling.

With files Tess Kalinowski and Victoria Ptashnick