Transit Windsor has announced the cancellation of the Special Events buses for Sunday's Detroit Lions game.
The bus provider is asking Lions fans to make alternate arrangements and says anyone who has paid in advance will be reimbursed.
City engineer Mark Winterton says transit is letting riders know of a possible strike and has made the decision to cancel the buses.
"They've put us on notice in accordance of the legislation, 72-hour notice, that they are considering strike action as of 12:01 a.m. Monday morning."
He explained why the strike potential led to the bus cancellation.
"If we did have shuttles over, the likely time for return would be after 12:01 a.m. and so we would then be in a position where we wouldn't be able to bring people back having taken them over," Winterton continued. "While we remain hopeful that we can come to an agreement, we don't want to be in a position where we can't bring people back."
Winterton says a number of people had signed up for the bus on Sunday.
"As of yesterday at about 1 p.m. we had 125 people signed up."
ATU Local 616 say they are committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable, and accessible public transit to all those who rely on this service.
Union officials say they understand that a transit strike will have a significant impact on our riders, including seniors, frontline workers and students.
They want the public to know that they take pride in serving our communities and keeping Windsor and Essex County moving, but without a fair contract – they're left with no choice but to take strike action.
ATU Local 616 say they only recently learned that Special Event Bus Service for Sunday’s Detroit Lion’s game was canceled.
“We are quite surprised to hear that they would have cancelled any busses without communicating with us, as we had scheduled our potential strike time in order to allow for the safe and timely return of all busses up to and including the end of day Sunday. We would never allow for any passengers, or busses for that matter, to be stranded on the other side of the border,” Financial Secretary-Treasurer Michael Lucier said.
Lucier says transit workers remain committed to the bargaining process, and look forward to reaching an agreement with Transit Windsor that will address the needs and health and safety of transit workers and passengers.
Transit Windsor has not had a strike since 1991.