Transit Strike: Full bus shutdown for 3 days next week
Credit to Author: Tiffany Crawford| Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2019 22:41:24 +0000
Transit users in Metro Vancouver can expect a complete bus system shutdown for three days next week as job action escalates on week three of a transit strike in the region.
Unifor western regional director Gavin McGarrigle said its members will escalate transit strike action next week and all buses and SeaBus will be cancelled on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. There will also be a rally next Thursday at 1 p.m. at TransLink’s headquarters in New Westminster.
He said there will be full service on Saturday, Nov. 30.
McGarrigle said it has become clear the company has no intention of settling for a fair contract for workers, and accused TransLink of deliberately misleading the public by comparing wages with nurses and firefighters, and not other transit workers in large centres like Toronto.
“We had hoped that these measures would convince the unaccountable, overpaid executives at TransLink and Coast Mountain Bus Company to realize what we already knew, that the public is behind us,” he said at a news conference Wednesday.
“The public supports the workers and it is time for TransLink to change its approach.”
Transit workers rally at Unifor office in New Westminster, BC, November 20, 2019.
TransLink spokesperson Ben Murphy has planned a news conference in New Westminster at 1:30 p.m. to respond to the union’s job escalation.
In a prepared statement Wednesday, CMBC president Michael McDaniel said the company is alarmed to learn that the union will be taking “the drastic step” of shutting down bus service.
“It is completely unacceptable our customers are being dragged into this dispute,” McDaniel said, in the statement.
“Coast Mountain Bus Company is addressing the union’s complaints about working conditions as well as providing generous wage increases beyond what’s in other public sector settlements in British Columbia. The union is willing to disrupt lives of commuters to get the wages it wants.”
B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains said the union’s announcement was difficult news for everyone who relies on transit in the region.
Transit workers rally at Unifor office in New Westminster, BC, November 20, 2019.
“We strongly urge both sides to get back to discussions at the bargaining table – that’s where solutions and a fair deal will be found,” said Bains, in a statement Wednesday.
At this time, the province has no plan to appoint a mediator to help broker a deal.
Bains told reporters that it’s a matter between the union and the company, and he expects they will sort it out without outside involvement.
“They have negotiated numerous collective agreements without any help from outside. If they need help, they can always ask. They know what’s available through the Labour Relations Board. They both understand how the system works and that’s why I’m encouraging them to get back to the bargaining table,” Bains said.
McGarrigle cited the overcrowding on buses, assault on bus drivers, wages, lack of breaks, and unsanitary bathrooms, as just some of the unacceptable working conditions.
The union says the move follows Coast Mountain Bus Company’s failure to make new offers at the bargaining table. Contract talks broke off a second time last week, and the two sides remain far apart.
Bus drivers have already refused overtime, and since Nov. 1 have declined to wear their uniforms and maintenance workers have been on an overtime ban.
Gavin McGarrigle, western regional director of Unifor, leads a rally at Unifor office in New Westminster, BC, November 20, 2019.
The strike has already caused hundreds of bus delays, cancellations, and a reduction in SeaBus service, although no SeaBus cancellations are scheduled Wednesday.
Meantime, there could be more transit woes on the way, as the union representing 900 SkyTrain employees, who work on the the Expo and Millennium lines, says its members are taking a strike vote this week. Results are expected Thursday.
CUPE 7000 president Tony Rebelo said although mediated talks are scheduled for later this month, the union wanted to get back to bargaining sooner after talks reached an impasse last week.
More to come…
-With files from Jennifer Saltman and Scott Brown