Mayors call for end to transit job action as more SeaBus sailings pulled, bus cancellations loom

Metro Vancouver mayors are urging parties on both sides of a regional transit dispute to resume negotiations after days of stalemate, saying some of the union's demands are impractical and escalated job action would hurt the region's most vulnerable people.

The Mayors' Council on Regional Transportationissued a statement Monday asking Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC) and Unifor, the union representing thousands of transit workers, to get back to the bargaining table and avoid an all-out strike.

"[The action] is impacting commuters and some of the most vulnerable residents in our region who rely on public transit," wrote mayors' council chair Jonathan Cote.

The first four days of the job action, which includes transit workers not wearing uniforms and refusing overtime, have seen more than 30 SeaBus trips cancelled. Uniforhas said the action will escalate and begin affecting bus service by week's end if an agreement is not reached.

The union wants an extra $608 million in wages, benefits and improvements to working conditions over 10 years.

The mayors' council statement said Uniforhas suggested scaling back planned bus expansions for the next decade in order to cover the cost of the wage demands.

Cote said that option is "completely off the table."

"With North America-leading ridership growth, a climate emergency and growing road congestion, now is not the time to slow down transit improvements. Cutting the funding used to buy additional buses and hire more bus drivers will also do nothing to improve the working conditions for our valuable transit operators," the chair wrote.

CMBC said in a statement Fridayuniondemands would costmore than $608 million over10 years.The company operates bus andSeaBusservice on behalf ofTransLink, the region's transit authority.

Speaking to reporters Monday, union representatives chided the mayors' council for its "one-sided" statement.

"[Cot] has taken the position of TransLink, where they're saying you cannot have an expanded system and take care of the workers. We are asking for people to have both," saidUniforwestern regional director Gavin McGarrigle.

A number of SeaBus sailings have been cancelled since Friday due to workers' refusal to work overtime, which has become normalized as part of sustaining regular service levels. Three more round-trip sailings have been cancelled for Monday afternoon between 4:10 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. PT.

Bus services haven't been disturbedby the job action thus far, but the union warned commuters can expect bus cancellations by the end of the week if the overtime strike continues.

"We've been very clear:unless these issues are addressed, this will escalate and it will end in a complete work stoppage," McGarrigle said Monday.

Watch how residents in North Vancouver and UBC reacted to the potential for no bus service:

'I'm concerned about the disruption...'

5 years ago

Duration 1:15

Residents in North Vancouver and at UBC talk about how they would handle a full bus strike.

SkyTrainand HandyDartservices have not been affected.

Metro Vancouver has not seen a full-scale transit strike in nearly two decades. Afour-month walkout in 2001 crippled commutes for hundreds of thousands of people.