Frantic talks produced deal to avoid shutdown
Amid high stakes and tension, both sides stayed focused on averting a shutdown
As bus drivers, mechanics and SeaBus workers gathered around Metro Vancouver, preparing to light burn barrels and set up picket lines, negotiators from their union and employer worked against the clock to prevent a full-scale bus and SeaBus shutdown.
Talks began around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, and Unifor and Coast Mountain Bus Company gave themselves until midnight to hammer out a tentative contract after having failed and broken off talks on two previous occasions.
“There was no messing around at that stage,” said the Unifor western regional director and lead negotiator, Gavin McGarrigle. “There were a lot of people depending on us — our members were depending on us, the public was depending on us — to respond to their support by doing everything we could to reach an agreement.”
The two sides set up their committees in separate rooms at a downtown Vancouver hotel and negotiated in a third. Most meetings were quick, the shortest lasting less than two minutes. McGarrigle said that’s because everyone was aware of the issues, with wages and bus driver working conditions the high priorities.
“We had some very intense discussions a number of times. Both parties knew that the clock was ticking and that it was important to give it everything we had, and that there was no time for game playing,” McGarrigle said. “We were working on pieces at a time, seeing where we could land.”
Despite the stakes being high and there being tension between the two sides, McGarrigle said all involved were professionals who focused on coming up with a tentative agreement. It came down to the wire.
“We felt closer to midnight that we had given the company a very serious offer to settle the outstanding issues. We knew at that point they needed a little bit of time to digest,” McGarrigle said, which meant pushing the deadline to 12:30 a.m.
“I don’t think we knew we had the deal until we had the deal, because at any point it could have broken off and the gap may not have been bridgeable.”
Following the agreement, Coast Mountain Bus Company president Mike McDaniel commended both parties for working together to get a negotiated tentative deal and finding common ground to end what he characterized as a “difficult chapter for customers, employees and the company.”
Coast Mountain declined to comment on the bargaining process, and union local presidents did not respond to media requests.
A ratification vote is expected to take place next week, at which time the details of the new contract will be revealed. The shutdown would have affected hundreds of thousands of people in Metro Vancouver, in particular students and those with lower incomes and no access to a vehicle.
Bus drivers had refused to wear uniforms since Nov. 1 and declined to work overtime for four days. Maintenance workers had refused overtime since Nov. 1. These actions resulted in hundreds of trip cancellations for buses and the SeaBus.
The Mayors’ Council chair and New Westminster mayor, Jonathan Coté, said it’s his understanding that the deal won’t affect the 10-year plan to expand transit service in the region, including adding bus service. There had been concern that plans would be delayed or scuttled if a settlement with workers was too expensive.
“I think that’s going to be good for transit service in the region and it’s going to also help us address a lot of the issues that the bus drivers were concerned about,” Coté said
McGarrigle is thankful that bargaining was allowed to continue without any intervention from the provincial government.
“Certainly any hint of government intervention immediately tilts the balance — usually in favour of the employer — and at the end of the day free collective bargaining when the stakes are high and the parties are face to face is the best way to get it done,” he said.
SkyTrain attendants, control operators, administration, maintenance and technical staff remain in contract negotiations with B.C. Rapid Transit Company.
Bargaining took place over the weekend, and mediation began on Monday.