The head of Ottawa's striking transit union is cautioning workers and commuters not to get their hopes up, even though negotiations continued Monday to end a nearly two-week transit strike.

"Well, we're talking right now…When people are talking, things can happen," said Andre Cornellier, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 Monday, while taking a break from negotiations with the City of Ottawa.

"But you know what, I'm not very optimistic right now . I wouldn't want to give anybody a false sense of hope or not."

Cornellier was visiting some of the workers on the picket line at OC Transpo headquarters on St. Laurent Boulevard, as buses remained parked for the 13th day in a row.

Talks had resumed Saturday for the first time since before the start of the strike on Dec. 10.

The city and Local 279, which represents about 2,300 transit drivers, dispatchers and maintenance staff, negotiated through the weekend with the assistance of a federal mediator, and more talks were scheduled for Monday. But no information was released about their progress, which is covered by a media blackout.

Striking workers did get some good news Monday, however.

ATU Local 1760, a sister union representing administration workers at OC Transpo, handed over a $10,000 cheque to Local 279 to help them get through the strike.

Public opinion turning: transit driver

On the picket line at OC Transpo headquarters on St. Laurent Boulevard on Monday, drivers were upbeat despite temperatures of around –15 C and strong, icy winds.

Norm Deschamps, who has been driving an OC Transpo bus for 20 years, said he gets the impression that people's opinions have been turning in the bus drivers' favour since the recent launch of the union's website, which was last updated on Friday.

"We're finally getting some information out that has given [our] whole perspective of this strike to the public," Deschamps said.

The two sides disagree mainly over the city's proposed changes to the way drivers are scheduled. The city alleges the new system will save money and be safer, as it will spread work more evenly between senior and less-experienced drivers. The union alleges the new system will take away some of the drivers' control over their schedules and result in a longer work day for some of them without any extra pay.

Deschamps said giving OC Transpo workers more family time was one of the recommendations that came out of a coroner's inquest in relation to a 1999 shooting at the OC Transpo garage on St. Laurent Boulevard. During that incident, an employee gunned down four fellow employees and then turned the gun on himself. Deschamps said the current scheduling system is the result of negotiations following that inquest.