Our Local History
For over 70 years our Local has had a proud history rooted in the fight for fairness, respect, and dignity on the job for passenger transportation workers; here is our story…so far.
Local 4304’s Proud Beginnings
Unifor Local 4304 traces its roots back to its original charter as Division 304 of the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees and Other Transport Workers (CBRE & OTW), a national union founded in 1908 as the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees (CBRE) to represent rail transportation workers across Canada in a 100% Canadian union.
Division 304 was chartered in 1953 to represent the employees of the Kitchener Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Transportation Department, providing them with a united voice in negotiations and workplace issues. Through its CBRE & OTW beginnings, the Local built a foundation of solidarity and advocacy that continues to guide its work today.
However, Division 304 wasn’t actually the first labour union to represent workers at the Kitchener PUC. In 1941, during the Second World War, employees of the Kitchener PUC organized under Division 1259 of the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America, the union now known as the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). However, when Federal wartime labour regulations were repealed in 1946, and labour relations fell back to the provinces, Division 1259 lost its status under the Ontario Labour Relations Act and ceased to exist.
It would not be until 1953 when the fight for union representation at the Kitchener PUC would begin again.
Photo Credit: Paul A. Bateson, Used With Permission
February 6, 1953
Division 304 Applies for Certification
Division 304 of the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees and Other Transport Workers (CBRE&OTW) is chartered and files an application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board seeking certification as bargaining agent for employees of the Kitchener Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Notice of the application was sent to the PUC on February 11, with a hearing initially scheduled for March 10.
The organizing drive came during a period of uncertainty for PUC employees. Workers were concerned about wages and the erosion of their purchasing power, while financial losses at the transit system raised fears that service reductions could result in job losses. On February 20, the Brotherhood also wrote directly to the PUC requesting that it voluntarily recognize Division 304 as the employees’ bargaining agent.
February 23, 1953
Formation of Division 304 Announced
The local newspaper publicly reported the organization of CBRE&OTW Division 304 among employees of the Kitchener Public Utilities Commission. The newly formed Division represented employees confronting concerns over wages, cost-of-living pressures and the possibility of job losses resulting from reductions in transit service due to the PUC’s financial losses that year. Division 304 had already applied to the Ontario Labour Relations Board for certification and had asked the PUC to recognize it voluntarily as the employees’ bargaining representative.
March 27, 1953
Certification Application Dismissed
Division 304’s application for certification was formally dismissed by the Ontario Labour Relations Board. The dismissal, however, was not a determination that employees had rejected the union or that Division 304 lacked sufficient support. The Board was unable to act on the application because the Kitchener PUC had exercised its privilege under section 78 of the Labour Relations Act, placing itself outside the scope of the Act.
Division 304 was therefore denied access to the normal statutory process through which a union could obtain recognition as bargaining agent. Rather than ending the organizing campaign, the decision shifted the struggle from certification before the Labour Relations Board to a direct fight with the PUC for voluntary recognition.
April 20, 1953
PUC Refuses to Recognize Division 304
Two months after Division 304 formally requested recognition, the Kitchener PUC advised the Brotherhood that it would not recognize or negotiate with the union. With the PUC outside the jurisdiction of the Labour Relations Act, Division 304 could not turn to the Labour Relations Board to compel recognition through certification.
The refusal brought the dispute to a turning point. The union maintained that PUC employees had the right to choose a union to represent them collectively, while the PUC was accused of attempting to interest employees in an internal “shop union.” With the statutory route closed and voluntary recognition refused, Division 304 began preparing to use economic pressure to win recognition.
April 22, 1953
Division 304 Prepares to Fight for Recognition
The dispute over Division 304 became a major public labour confrontation when the Brotherhood announced that PUC employees would vote on strike action over the issue of union recognition. The National Union accused PUC management of pressuring employees and bus mechanics to attend a meeting intended to promote what it described as a “company union set-up.”
The Brotherhood appealed publicly to Kitchener Mayor Weber to intervene and help avert a strike, while emphasizing that the PUC had both removed itself from the Labour Relations Act and refused Division 304’s request for voluntary recognition. The National Union authorized strike action, setting the stage for employees themselves to decide whether they were prepared to withdraw their labour to secure recognition.
April 26, 1953
PUC Employees Vote on Strike Action
PUC employees gathered on Sunday, April 26, for what contemporary reporting described as an “enthusiastic” meeting to vote on whether to authorize strike action. The central issue was not wages or other improvements to working conditions, but the PUC’s refusal to recognize Division 304 as the employees’ bargaining agent.
The ballots were initially kept sealed so employees required to work on Sunday would also have an opportunity to vote. Other unions in the community pledged their support to the PUC employees in the event of a labour dispute, while the National Union had already authorized Division 304 to strike if necessary.
May 5, 1953
Employees Deliver a Strong Strike Mandate
The result of the recognition strike vote was announced publicly: 60 of the PUC’s 81 employees had voted in favour of strike action if necessary. Union recognition was identified as the sole issue in dispute. The employees wanted the PUC to recognize their chosen union and bargain collectively with it.
The vote gave Division 304 a strong mandate to escalate its campaign. Although strike action was now authorized, the Brotherhood repeatedly delayed calling employees off the job while efforts continued to find a peaceful settlement. The union also sought assistance from the provincial Minister of Labour, while organized labour elsewhere in the community continued to support the PUC employees.
May 30, 1953
Recognition Talks Begin
After weeks of strike threats, postponements and efforts to secure outside intervention, representatives of Division 304 and the Kitchener PUC began talks aimed at resolving the recognition dispute. A shutdown of Kitchener’s bus service remained possible, with another strike deadline approaching if an agreement could not be reached.
The beginning of talks marked an important change in the dispute. The PUC had initially refused to recognize the union and had repeatedly avoided publicly acknowledging the threatened strike, but representatives of both sides were now expressing hope that an agreement could be reached. Division 304 continued to hold its strike mandate while negotiations proceeded.
June 13, 1953
Substantial Progress Toward an Agreement
By mid-June, regular negotiations between the PUC and Division 304 had produced what was described as “substantial progress.” Agreement had reportedly been reached on practically all of the matters under discussion, although recognition of the union remained the central issue around which the dispute had begun.
Negotiations nevertheless continued through the summer as the parties worked through the details of a proposed agreement. Draft language was prepared and presented to employees for consideration, and by September both sides appeared to be approaching a final settlement.
September 19, 1953
Final Contract Dispute Threatens Another Strike
After months of negotiations, Division 304 and the PUC had reached agreement on almost all of the proposed contract. A remaining disagreement over paid statutory holidays, however, threatened to bring the dispute back to strike action. The union sought four paid holidays—Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, May 24 and Labour Day—while the PUC rejected part of the proposal.
Division 304 indicated that drivers and maintenance employees would consider strike action in early October if the remaining dispute could not be resolved. The union also expressed frustration with the lengthy negotiating process, which had continued for several months after the original fight for recognition began.
September 29, 1953
Division 304 Wins Recognition and Its First Agreement
After nearly eight months of organizing, threatened strike action and negotiations, Division 304 and the Kitchener Public Utilities Commission reached an agreement, averting a possible strike. Most importantly, the agreement formally recognized the union, achieving the objective that had driven the dispute since the beginning of the year. The agreement was finally signed on October 5, 1953.
The agreement also provided employees with three paid statutory holidays and was made retroactive to June 1, 1953, with a term running until May 31, 1955. Having been unable to obtain recognition through the Ontario Labour Relations Board, Division 304 had ultimately secured its bargaining rights directly through organization, collective action and negotiations with the PUC.
September 26, 1958
The National Union Becomes the CBRT&GW
At the conclusion of its 50th Anniversary Convention, the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees and Other Transport Workers (CBRE & OTW) adopted a new name: the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers (CBRT&GW). The change reflected an expansion of the Brotherhood’s jurisdiction beyond its traditional railway and transportation base.
For Division 304 – now Local 304 – the change represented a new name and broader identity within the National Union, while its established bargaining relationship with Kitchener’s municipal transit workers continued.
January 1, 1973
Regional Government Comes to Waterloo Region
The Province of Ontario established the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, substantially reorganizing municipal government throughout Waterloo County. Among the changes was the creation of the City of Cambridge through the amalgamation of Galt, Preston, Hespeler and Blair.
Although Kitchener continued to operate its own transit system following regional restructuring, the creation of the Region established the governmental structure that would eventually assume responsibility for public transit across Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge nearly three decades later.
March 26, 1973
Kitchener Transit Replaces the PUC Transportation Department
The City of Kitchener launched Kitchener Transit, replacing the Transportation Department of the Kitchener Public Utilities Commission and marking the end of the PUC era of municipal transit operations.
The transition also brought an immediate and highly visible change to the streets of Kitchener. As the PUC’s electric trolley buses completed their final morning runs, operators left the trolleys behind and moved directly into a new fleet of 40-foot diesel buses carrying the newly introduced Kitchener Transit identity. Local 304 continued to represent the transit workforce through the change.
Photo Credit: Paul A. Bateson, Used With Permission
February 20, 1975
Wildcat Strike Shuts Down Kitchener Transit
Approximately 130 Kitchener Transit drivers and maintenance employees staged a wildcat strike, bringing the City’s bus service to a standstill during the morning rush hour. The unauthorized walkout followed the three-day suspension of a bus operator and reflected broader frustration among employees over discipline, working conditions and a series of unresolved workplace grievances, which included grooming standards.
The work stoppage was not a formally sanctioned strike by CBRT&GW Local 304. Employees took action themselves, leaving union and City representatives to meet during the shutdown in an effort to resolve the dispute and restore transit service. The employees ultimately returned to work with outstanding matters to be dealt with through the grievance process. Although brief, the wildcat strike demonstrated the increasingly strained labour relations at Kitchener Transit—only seven months before Local 304 members would begin a formal strike that would last 13 weeks.
September 8, 1975
Local 304 Begins a 13-Week Strike
Members of CBRT&GW Local 304 employed by Kitchener Transit walked off the job after negotiations with the City failed to produce an agreement. Transit employees worked irregular hours and schedules that differed considerably from those of many other municipal employees, and the union sought additional wages and benefits in recognition of those working conditions. Our Local 304 members during this strike are featured prominently on the cover of ‘All For The Cause: An Illustrated History of the CBRT & GW’ that was published during the 80th anniversary of the CBRT & GW in 1988.
The City rejected the union’s demands and employees subsequently rejected multiple offers made during the dispute. The strike ultimately lasted approximately 13 weeks, making it one of the longest and most significant labour disputes in the Local’s history before a new agreement was finally reached.
October 16, 1978
Local 304 Strikes Again
Only three years after the lengthy 1975 dispute, Local 304 members at Kitchener Transit returned to the picket line. The union challenged both the City’s proposed limits on wage increases and working conditions experienced by transit employees.
One incident cited during the dispute involved a bus operator being chastised by a supervisor for stopping to wash their hands after using a washroom rather than immediately returning to the bus. The union also objected to the City comparing transit operators’ wages with those of unrelated municipal employees instead of comparable transit operators elsewhere in Ontario. When challenged over its position, the City responded that employees should “prove their worth at the bargaining table.” The strike lasted approximately one week.
August 28, 1971
Sandy Henderson Becomes Kitchener Transit's First Female Bus Operator
Sandy Henderson made history when she joined Kitchener Transit as its first female bus operator, breaking a longstanding gender barrier in a workplace and occupation that had traditionally been dominated by men. Already an experienced driver with a varied working background, Henderson approached the new role simply wanting to demonstrate that she could do the job—and quickly established herself as a capable and respected operator.
Her arrival helped open the door for the women who followed. Over a 27-year career, Henderson became known for treating coworkers and passengers with fairness, respect and care, while demonstrating that women belonged behind the wheel of a transit bus just as much as men did. Her hiring marked an important change not only in the history of Kitchener Transit, but also in the membership of Local 304 as the transit workforce gradually became more representative of the community it served.
November 1, 1988
Transit Workers Strike for Working-Condition Improvements
CBRT&GW Local 304 members at Kitchener Transit once again took strike action, this time seeking improvements that included a 20-minute paid meal break, a night-shift premium and fairer overtime rules for spareboard operators.
Under the existing arrangement, spareboard operators working split shifts did not qualify for overtime until after 12 hours, while regular operators qualified after 11. The City argued that the union’s proposals would be too costly, but the five-day strike ended with the employer agreeing to the union’s demands.
April 20, 1992
Local 304 Publishes Its First Newsletter
CBRT&GW Local 304 published the first issue of its new membership newsletter, establishing a new forum for communication, education and participation within the Local. The six-page inaugural edition introduced members to their elected representatives and committees, reported on workplace and health and safety issues, explained union roles and procedures, and invited members to contribute questions, information, ideas and even lighter material of their own. The newsletter was intended not simply to report the activities of the union, but to help members remain informed about developments within Local 304, the Brotherhood and the wider labour movement.
That first issue began a new chapter in how the Local communicated with its membership. Members were encouraged from the outset to make the publication their own, including through a contest to give the still-unnamed newsletter a permanent identity. In the years that followed, the newsletter would become part of the Local’s historical record—preserving the everyday concerns, activities, personalities and achievements of the union and its members that might otherwise have been lost to time.
June 22, 1992
The Newsletter Becomes The Informer
Only two months after Local 304 published its first newsletter, the young publication received a permanent name and identity. Members submitted 36 proposed names, and at the May union meeting ranked their preferred choices. The C.B.R.T. & G.W. Informer, submitted by Dennis Meyer of Department 2, narrowly won the membership vote by a single point and made its debut with the newsletter’s third issue.
With its new masthead proudly identifying The Informer as “The Voice of Kitchener Transit Local 304,” the newsletter was becoming an established part of union life. Its pages combined union and committee reports with workplace information, health and safety education, member contributions, community activities and the everyday social life of the membership. The name chosen by Local 304’s members would give a lasting identity to the publication created earlier that year as a forum for communication and participation within the Local.
June 1, 1994
Local 304 Becomes CAW Local 4304
The Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers merged with the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), bringing the CBRT&GW’s long history as an independent national union to an end.
As part of the merger, CBRT&GW Local 304 became CAW Local 4304. Although its Local number and National Union affiliation changed, the Local continued its longstanding representation of Kitchener’s municipal transit workforce.
February 22, 1996
Overnight Strike Ends with Tentative Agreement
Members of CAW Local 4304 at Kitchener Transit went on strike after negotiations for a new collective agreement reached an impasse, with job security emerging as a central issue in the dispute. Drivers and maintenance employees were concerned about protecting their work and sought stronger assurances against contracting out, while scheduling flexibility and other working conditions were also at issue during the round of bargaining.
The strike proved to be one of the shortest work stoppages in the Local’s history. Members were officially on strike for only a few hours overnight while transit service was already shut down, as union and City negotiators continued bargaining past the strike deadline. A compromise was reached before the beginning of Thursday morning service, allowing members to return to work and buses to leave the garage as scheduled. Although riders experienced little or no disruption, the brief strike demonstrated that Local 4304 was prepared to exercise its collective strength when members believed their job security was at stake.
January 1, 2000
Grand River Transit Is Formed
The Regional Municipality of Waterloo assumed responsibility for public transit from the Cities of Kitchener and Cambridge and combined Kitchener Transit, Cambridge Transit and Project Lift to create Grand River Transit (GRT). The new system brought municipal transit in the urban municipalities under a single regional organization and made integrated public transit between the three cities possible.
The restructuring also transformed Local 4304. Employees of Cambridge Transit, previously represented by ATU Local 1608, joined CAW Local 4304, with their seniority dovetailed with that of existing Local 4304 members. Project Lift became the specialized-transit component of GRT. What had originated as a Kitchener PUC bargaining unit in 1953 was now part of a region-wide transit workforce.
Photo Credit: Paul A. Bateson, Used With Permission
August 31, 2013
Unifor Is Born
The Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) came together over Labour Day weekend to establish a new Canadian labour union: Unifor. The merger brought together more than 300,000 workers across private- and public-sector workplaces.
Nearly two decades after Local 304 became CAW Local 4304, the Local underwent another change in National Union identity and became Unifor Local 4304. Its bargaining relationship and Local number continued uninterrupted.
March 12, 2015
Great Canadian Coaches Workers Join Local 4304
Following a successful organizing campaign and certification vote, motorcoach drivers employed by Great Canadian Coaches at locations across Southwestern Ontario joined Unifor and became a new bargaining unit of Local 4304.
The certification represented an important expansion in the Local’s history. For the first time, Local 4304 represented members working for more than one employer, transforming what had historically been a municipal-transit Local into a broader transportation Local.
Photo Credit: Paul A. Bateson, Used With Permission
March 23, 2015
The Informer Becomes The uXpress
After nearly 23 years as The Informer, Local 4304’s newsletter received a new name and identity. Following a call for suggestions from members, The uXpress was proposed by Sergeant-at-Arms Gary McKeown and adopted by the Local’s Executive Board.
The new name reflected both the Local’s transition to Unifor and its roots in public transit. The “u” represented Unifor—and “you,” the members—while “Xpress” connected the newsletter’s role in communicating information with GRT’s familiar iXpress transit network. The committee described the publication as “the voice of Unifor Local 4304,” encouraging members to read it, contribute to it and take ownership of their union’s newsletter.
A nickname from the other side…
The Informer apparently wasn’t always appreciated by its intended subjects. Some members of GRT management were known to jokingly—or perhaps not entirely jokingly—refer to the union newsletter as “The Deformer.” For a publication intended to give workers their own voice and scrutinize workplace issues, the nickname might be taken as evidence that management was, at the very least, reading it.
June 21, 2019
ION Light Rail Service Begins
The Region of Waterloo launched ION light rail service, establishing LRT as the central spine of a substantially reorganized Grand River Transit network. Its introduction returned municipal rail transit to the community for the first time since the end of Kitchener’s streetcar service in 1946.
Unlike GRT’s bus operations, however, the operation and maintenance of the new light-rail system were contracted by the Region to a private-sector operator rather than performed by members of Local 4304. The contracting-out of ION became a significant concern for the Local as the Region’s public transit network continued to expand.
December 24, 2019
Local 4304 Faces a Decertification Attempt
An application was filed with the Ontario Labour Relations Board seeking to remove Unifor Local 4304 as bargaining agent for employees at Grand River Transit, with supporters of the application seeking representation by the Amalgamated Transit Union.
A representation vote followed on January 8, 2020. GRT employees voted overwhelmingly to retain Unifor Local 4304 as their union, preserving a bargaining relationship whose origins at Kitchener municipal transit stretched back to the formation of Division 304 in 1953. Importantly, the decertification effort reinvigorates the membership of Local 4304 and leads to many new members being elected to key positions in the following General Election that work to rebuild local solidarity.
January 21, 2020
GRT Members Go on Strike
Less than two weeks after voting to retain Unifor as their bargaining agent, Local 4304 members at Grand River Transit walked off the job. Major issues included employee discipline, wage parity for part-time operators and the need for physical barriers protecting operators from passenger assaults.
The Region proposed installing operator barriers over a period of approximately 12 to 15 years, while the union argued that employees were already confronting an increasingly serious risk of violence in the workplace. The strike lasted 10 days. The resulting agreement included installation of barriers throughout the bus fleet within three years, revised collective-agreement language concerning discipline and a path to wage parity for part-time operators during the new three-year agreement.
May 1, 2023
GRT Members Strike Over Working Conditions
An application was filed with the Ontario Labour Relations Board seeking to remove Unifor Local 4304 as bargaining agent for employees at Grand River Transit, with supporters of the application seeking representation by the Amalgamated Transit Union.
A representation vote followed on January 8, 2020. GRT employees voted overwhelmingly to retain Unifor Local 4304 as their union, preserving a bargaining relationship whose origins at Kitchener municipal transit stretched back to the formation of Division 304 in 1953. Importantly, the decertification effort reinvigorates the membership of Local 4304 and leads to many new members being elected to key positions in the following General Election that work to rebuild local solidarity.
August 6, 2024
GRT Welcomes Its First Female Apprentice Bus Technician
Iris Maravilla made history when she began work at Grand River Transit as its first female apprentice bus technician, breaking a new barrier for women within GRT’s skilled trades workforce. Her path to the trade was not a conventional one: after previously working as a baker, an interest in mechanics led her toward a new career maintaining the buses that keep Waterloo Region moving. Her arrival marked another important step in the changing face of GRT and the membership of Unifor Local 4304.
For Unifor, her achievement also reflects the importance of creating opportunities for women to build careers in the skilled trades—occupations in which women have historically been significantly underrepresented. Apprenticeships provide the training, experience and mentorship through which the next generation of skilled trades workers is built, and opening those opportunities to women strengthens both the trade and the union. Iris’s first day at GRT therefore represented more than an individual career milestone: it helped open another door for women who will follow her into the garage, the skilled trades and Local 4304.
September 4, 2025
Great Canadian Coaches Is Sold
After 42 years of operation, Great Canadian Coaches, together with Northern Ontario’s Tisdale Bus Lines, was acquired by Fortress Coach Partners, an investment group formed by three partner companies. The acquisition brought two established Ontario motorcoach operators under common ownership.
For Local 4304, the sale represented the first major ownership change affecting its Great Canadian Coaches bargaining unit since employees joined the Local in 2015. The Local began watching the new ownership structure closely for changes that could affect its members and their workplace.
January 8, 2026
Fortress Coach Partners Acquires Ayr Coach Lines
Fortress Coach Partners expanded its Ontario motorcoach holdings with the acquisition of Ayr Coach Lines, adding another established operator to the ownership group that already controlled Great Canadian Coaches and Tisdale Bus Lines.
With three Ontario motorcoach companies now under common ownership, Unifor Local 4304 continued to monitor the developing corporate structure and any operational changes that could affect members employed at Great Canadian Coaches.
The Future
The Road Ahead
Unifor Local 4304 remains committed to building a stronger, more unified voice for passenger transportation workers across Ontario.
With decades of experience advocating for fair wages, safe working conditions, and equitable treatment, the Local is well-positioned to support new organizing initiatives and the creation of additional bargaining units in public transit, coach bus, and school bus workplaces throughout the province.
By expanding its reach and continuing to champion the rights of all workers in the sector, Local 4304 is poised to shape the future of transportation labour, ensuring that every employee has a collective voice and the protections they deserve.