TransLink CEO wants to see negotiated end to Metro Vancouver transit strike
Credit to Author: Jennifer Saltman| Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2019 01:09:12 +0000
TransLink’s CEO is “strongly urging” Coast Mountain Bus Company and the union representing 5,000 Metro Vancouver transit workers to return to collective bargaining and put an end to the strike that began late last week.
“There’s a deal to be made at the end of the day, and no matter how this dispute plays out, whether it plays out tomorrow or some weeks from now, there’s going to be a deal made. Let’s figure out how to get to the deal,” Kevin Desmond said at a Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event on Tuesday.
On Friday, transit workers began limited job action, which includes a uniform ban for bus drivers and maintenance workers refusing to work overtime. The strike has resulted in the cancellation of more than 60 SeaBus sailings — with 14 more planned for Wednesday morning and afternoon — and minor bus trip cancellations. Coast Mountain, a TransLink subsidiary. has a number of buses in reserve at its six depots, but that number is expected to dwindle through the week.
Desmond said he has no idea how service will be affected in the coming days and weeks if the job action continues, and that it would be up to the union.
“I hope that calmer heads will prevail, that we can get back to the bargain table and negotiate a solution and not put the onus on our customers, our riders, our commuters to force a deal,” Desmond said. “I think what you’ve heard from the union is SeaBus is just the first, and you might start seeing over time, depending on the steps they take, further impacts on the bus system. I hope that doesn’t happen.”
The union walked out of negotiations last week, and no talks are planned. Both sides say they are waiting for the other to make contact.
Coast Mountain Bus Company president Mike McDaniel said the deal being offered to transit workers includes a 12.2 per cent pay increase for skilled trades over four years, and a 9.6 per cent pay increase for transit operators over the same period. Wages vary by position, but Coast Mountain mechanics make about $40 an hour and transit operators start at $22.83 an hour as trainees.
McDaniel said there are a variety of other benefit improvements, including to medical and dental, and measures specifically to address working conditions for operators, such as increasing recovery times.
“We feel we have a balance. That’s why we’re so steadfast,” McDaniel said on Monday.
The two sides are far apart in what they are looking for in a new contract. Coast Mountain has said that what Unifor wants will cost more than $600 million over the 10 years. The company said that kind of deal would jeopardize transit system expansion plans.
“It’s a huge gap,” Desmond said. “It’s a gap that was very surprising to me, certainly, and we have to find a way to close that gap and avoid the kinds of disruptions being threatened at this point in time.”
Unifor western regional director Gavin McGarrigle said on Monday that unless the company comes back with a better offer, the stalemate will continue and job action could escalate.
McGarrigle said the next step would be to institute an overtime ban for bus drivers, which could park 10 to 15 per cent of the bus fleet and cause serious disruptions for commuters.
“We don’t want to escalate to that level if we don’t need to,” he said.
When asked about the details of what TransLink and Coast Mountain might be able to offer the union in a deal, Desmond said he would not bargain in public.
B.C. Premier John Horgan told reporters on Tuesday morning that the province will not intervene.
“I believe that collective bargaining should run its course,” he said. “We have no plans to interfere in that. I’m hopeful that a resolution can be found quickly for the travelling public, but at this point there’s not a role for the province to play.”