Bus, SeaBus workers and company set to bargain Tuesday afternoon
Credit to Author: Jennifer Saltman| Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2019 17:26:58 +0000
The union representing the 5,000 bus and SeaBus workers will return to bargaining with Coast Mountain Bus Company on Tuesday afternoon in an attempt to stave off a three-day, full-scale bus and SeaBus shutdown.
It will be the first time the two sides have met since contract talks broke off for a second time on Nov. 14.
It’s expected that the bargaining committee will meet with Unifor national president Jerry Dias, his assistant Chris MacDonald and western regional director Gavin McGarrigle on Tuesday morning before bargaining resumes in the afternoon. If a tentative deal is not reached before midnight, the planned shut down of all bus and SeaBus service will proceed on Wednesday.
SkyTrain, Canada Line, West Coast Express, West Vancouver Blue Bus, HandyDART and some community shuttles will still operate normally in the event of a strike, though likely with some crowding and delays.
The shutdown would affect hundreds of thousands of people in Metro Vancouver.
More than 250,000 daily transit journeys — a complete transit trip that could include a number of transfers — use only buses and about 18,000 include a ride on the SeaBus. More than 11,000 people use the SeaBus on a typical fall workday, almost half of whom are North Shore residents.
There are more than 500,000 boardings on the SkyTrain system each day, and more than half of those use bus or SeaBus to get to or from the train.
Bus drivers have refused to wear uniforms every day since Nov. 1 and have refused to work overtime for four days. Maintenance workers have been refusing overtime since Nov. 1. This action has resulted in hundreds of trip cancellations for bus and SeaBus.