No transit strike: Last minute SkyTrain deal reached early this morning
Credit to Author: Stephanie Ip| Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2019 13:50:11 +0000
SkyTrain will be operating on Tuesday morning after the union representing workers struck a last-minute tentative deal with the B.C. Rapid Transit Company.
If the deal had not been reached, 900 CUPE Local 7000 members, who operate and and maintain the SkyTrain system, would not have arrived for work and the Expo and Millennium lines would have sat empty starting at 5 a.m. and not moved until 5 a.m. on Friday.
The two SkyTrain lines move 150,000 people every day.
Negotiations had been underway since the last collective agreement expired in August and came to a head on Dec. 6 when the workers issued a 72-hour strike notice.
“This is great news for our customers who depend on our services. There will be some delays in the start of service on the Expo and Millennium Line this morning. I thank all of our customers and staff for their patience through this uncertain time,” B.C. Rapid Transit Company president Michel Ladrak said in a news release.
The deal was made two weeks after Coast Mountain Bus Company workers agreed to a contract at the very last minute, averting a planned strike for the morning of Nov. 27.
Kevin Desmond, the transit authority’s CEO, had warned on Monday that a shutdown will be “extremely disruptive,” and TransLink would have had limited options to help SkyTrain riders.
Coast Mountain Bus Service is unable to beef up bus service or set up bus bridges between SkyTrain stations because of labour laws and operational constraints. TransLink also does not have the capacity to add more trains to the West Coast Express, a commuter rail line that shuttles passengers between Mission and Vancouver.
TransLink estimated about 15,000 more vehicles would have been on the road for rush hour Tuesday morning should SkyTrain service have come to a halt, putting more pressure on roads, as well as leading to overcrowding on buses, the Canada Line and West Coast Express.
SkyTrain workers had been without a contract since the end of August. Some of the issues include staffing levels, wages, forced overtime and sick-leave policies.
Transit revenue and ridership have been affected by the threat of the strike, as well as by the recent job action by bus drivers and maintenance workers, as transit users shifted their habits to avoid uncertainty or unreliable service.
“Even last week after the bus strike was averted, we’ve seen less ridership than we would expect and that means less fare-box revenue,” Desmond said.
In that case, Unifor and Coast Mountain Bus Company reached an agreement past midnight, mere hours before a scheduled three-day bus shutdown.
• CUPE 7000, which represents 900 SkyTrain workers, and B.C. Rapid Transit Company, which employs the workers, have spent more than 40 days bargaining for a new collective agreement. Their most recent agreement expired on Aug. 31.
• The two sides also went through four days of mediation last week but no progress was made.
• CUPE 7000 issued 72-hour strike notice on Friday, which means its members were prepared to walk off the job following the end of the notice period.
• A three-day full withdrawal of SkyTrain services was scheduled to begin Tuesday at 5 a.m. unless a deal was reached. A settlement was reached shortly before 5 a.m. and service resumed at 5 a.m.
BC Rapid Transit Company and CUPE 7000 have reached a tentative agreement. Please expect delays while we works towards providing regular schedules on the Expo and Millennium Lines today. ^CK
⚠ SkyTrain
✔️ Bus
✔️ Canada Line
✔️ SeaBus
✔️ HandyDART
Premier John Horgan said he was encouraged that talks were continuing in the SkyTrain labour dispute.
“I’m hoping they’ll find a resolution before the day is out,” he said.
Asked if the province would intervene, he said, “Any agreement is best found at the bargaining table.”
Charles Gauthier, CEO of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, said any shutdown would be disruptive to downtown-area businesses, especially as the holiday season approaches.
“There’ll definitely be an impact on retail, and people with discretionary income may make the choice not to drive downtown if they typically get here using SkyTrain,” said Gauthier. “It’s a concern anytime, but especially at this time of year when it’s peak shopping season and retailers make or break it for the year.”
Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, called for an end to the job action, which she says is detrimental to Surrey’s economy:
“Without adequate transportation modes getting our workforce to their jobs, economic productivity is diminished,” she said, adding Surrey has seen a large increase in transit ridership as its population continues to grow.
Jordan Cripps, development and communications officer of the Disability Foundation, said any SkyTrain shutdown would hit persons of disability hard. Cripps, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, relies on SkyTrain to get from New Westminster to Gastown in Vancouver.
“That won’t be an option tomorrow should there be a strike,” he said. While he has other options, such as driving or taking a convoluted bus route with multiple transfers, he said other people with disabilities may not have any alternative means to get around.
SkyTrain workers take strike vote, bus drivers look to escalate job action
SkyTrain workers return to bargaining table with strike mandate
SkyTrain workers issue 72-hour strike notice
‘Time to get a deal done:’ Full SkyTrain shutdown planned for Tuesday morning
Metro Vancouver commuters gear up for potential SkyTrain shutdown
— with a file from David Carrigg
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