SkyTrain strike averted as last-minute deal reached
Credit to Author: Jennifer Saltman| Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2019 16:06:42 +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.
TransLink said SkyTrain customers may experience delays Tuesday morning as the company works to provide a regular schedule.
“A three-day strike by SkyTrain workers has been averted, thanks to a new tentative agreement reached early this morning following a marathon bargaining session between CUPE 7000 and the B.C. Rapid Transit Company (SkyTrain),” CUPE 7000 said, in a statement.
Details of the tentative agreement will not be released until it has been ratified.
CUPE 7000 president Tony Rebelo said, in the statement, that the eleventh-hour deal goes a long way to address many of the union’s concerns going into this latest round of bargaining.
“Both parties worked long and hard throughout the weekend, Monday, and into Tuesday morning to get this deal done,” Rebelo said. “We couldn’t have done it without the assistance of mediator Grant McArthur, so we thank him for his patience and wisdom throughout these talks.”
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 again 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.
Michel Ladrak, president of B.C. Rapid Transit Company, issued a statement early Tuesday, saying that he was pleased both sides had reached a negotiated, tentative deal. He did not release any details about the deal.
“This is great news for our customers who depend on our services,” Ladrak said. “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.”
BREAKING: We’re pleased to share BC Rapid Transit Company and CUPE 7000 have reached a negotiated, tentative deal. Please expect delays while BCRTC works towards providing regular schedules on the Expo and Millennium Lines today, Dec. 10. Please stay tuned for updates. pic.twitter.com/xhCXS2d2zg
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.
-With files from David Carrigg, Stephanie Ip, and Cheryl Chan