The City of Hamilton is encouraging residents to be prepared for a potential disruption to transit service as early as tomorrow.

In a release, the City says it has prepared contingency plans in case of a strike by the transit union, and suggests residents do the same.

ATU Local 107 would be in a legal strike position as of Wednesday, October 25, 12:01 am.

The City would also be in a legal position to issue a lock-out notice, though neither action is triggered automatically.

The release states that at this time, the City is advising all transit customers to consider what alternative forms of transportation they may be able to use if a labour disruption occurs.

The release notes that although the union did indicate publicly that they would wait until November 5th to meet with their membership, the City believes alerting transit customers to the possibility of a disruption as of October 25 is ‘’a prudent step as a service disruption would mean transit customers would need to find alternative commuting arrangements.’’

The City says the Hamilton Street Railway will take steps to ensure that all buses can be returned to service as soon as possible following a possible disruption. The City’s communications staff has also prepared a protocol to provide regular updates to transit riders through the City’s social media channels and website.

Acting City Manager Jason Thorne said: ‘’The City remains committed to continuing to build and improve upon its transit system and is hopeful it can avoid a service disruption and the challenging impacts it will have on staff, commuters and our goals of improving mobility for Hamiltonians through increased investment in and ridership on the transit service.’’