Bus drivers escalate transit strike
Riders face ‘significant impacts’ as union declares ban on overtime
Transit bus drivers will refuse to work overtime today and on three days next week, after contract talks between their union and TransLink’s Coast Mountain Bus Company broke off on Thursday for a second time.
The union said the ban could take 10-15 per cent of buses off the road, while the company suggested up to 10 per cent. That would cause major problems for transit users, who have been dealing with SeaBus and bus trip cancellations for almost two weeks thanks to a union ban on maintenance workers working overtime.
The overtime ban will also be in effect on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of next week.
“This will have significant impacts on the travelling public,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s western regional director. “The bus system is the backbone of our transit system in Metro Vancouver. Without it, not much functions around here.”
Both the union and the company said it’s hard to predict where the bus service disruptions will be felt, but riders are advised to sign up for online transit alerts and to allow extra time for their commutes. The company said there will be gaps in service on some routes and there likely will be overcrowding.
Near Renfrew SkyTrain station, transit users Jacob Muschamp and Emil Safrasbekjan expressed concern about getting around.
Muschamp depends on buses to get to work at a grocery store and Safrasbekjan takes them to work at a language school.
“I don’t have an alternative,” said Safrasbekjan, 19.
“I told my work colleagues that if there’s an issue, maybe I might be late, but they completely understand.”
Muschamp, 18, said he’s taken taxis home from work late at night when buses didn’t show, but it’s too expensive at about $25 a ride.
Neither man sees cycling as an option with winter coming.
“I just don’t know what to do,” Muschamp said.
So far, the strike has included a uniform ban for bus drivers and an overtime ban for maintenance workers. Those actions will continue, said the union, which represents bus drivers, SeaBus workers, and related maintenance staff.
McGarrigle said there was progress during Wednesday’s talks on working conditions for bus drivers, but the company was still unwilling to discuss issues such as wage parity for bus drivers in Metro Vancouver with those in Toronto, and wage parity for skilled trades workers at Coast Mountain Bus Company with those at SkyTrain.
“It became very clear to us during discussions and both parties have mutually agreed that our positions are too far apart for there to be a basis for settlement, and so both parties have agreed to end discussions at this point,” McGarrigle said.
Coast Mountain Bus Company president Mike McDaniel said the company’s updated offer included, for the first time, guaranteed recovery time. Drivers would receive 40 minutes of recovery time per shift and be paid double time for every minute of the recovery time missed due to traffic congestion.
“However, despite the significant progress, we’re disappointed that talks have once again broken off,” McDaniel said.
“Wages are now our key sticking point.”
Coast Mountain has offered a 12.2 per cent pay increase for skilled trades over four years, and a 9.6 per cent pay hike for transit operators over the same period.
Under the current contract, conventional bus drivers start at $22.83 an hour during a 30-day training period, then go from $24.46 an hour to $32.61 an hour after 24 months of employment. Benefits include medical, vision and dental, a pension plan and family bus passes.
Unifor had sought an increase of 15.2 per cent over four years for bus drivers and 16.7 per cent over four years for maintenance workers.
McGarrigle said the union had been willing to make concessions in some areas, but did not specify where that might be.