Strike: Full shutdown of TransLink bus and SeaBus services possible on Monday

Strike escalation: Full shutdown of TransLink bus and SeaBus services possible starting Monday

TransLink bus (Margarita Young/Shutterstock) and SeaBus (Max Lindenthaler/Shutterstock) during snowfall.

Metro Vancouver public transit riders could face another round of major service disruptions to TransLink’s bus network and SeaBus services starting early next week — not due to winter weather but an escalation in the ongoing job action of Coast Mountain Bus Company’s (CMBC) bus operations supervisors.

In a bulletin this morning, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 4500 announced it is giving CMBC an ultimatum before the start of service on Monday, January 22, to reach a “fair collective agreement” for 180 bus operations supervisors.

This includes CMBC’s transit supervisors, maintenance supervisors, service supervisors, tire person supervisors, TComm supervisors, field service trainers, engineers, and warranty administrators, as well as supervisors for the parts department, body shop, trolley overhead, and fare box.

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If an agreement is not reached with the employer, all 180 bus operations supervisors will withdraw their services starting at 3 am on Monday for 48 hours.

According to the union, this walkout will result in a full suspension of all bus and SeaBus services over the two-day period until at least Wednesday morning. CMBC is the TransLink subsidiary that operates and maintains the bus and SeaBus system.

“CUPE 4500 has been waiting over four weeks for Coast Mountain to respond to our latest proposal. Our patience for Coast Mountain to take bargaining and our issues seriously has been exhausted. Our members deserve a fair deal,” said CUPE 4500 spokesperson Liam O’Neill at a press conference today.

“We regret the disruptions passengers will be experiencing, but we are out of options. Unless Coast Mountain commits to ensure transit supervisors get the same wages as others doing similar work, and take our workload issues seriously, we are left with no choice.”

The overtime ban of bus operations supervisors that first began on January 6 will resume.

The union is at odds with working conditions, compensation, and CMBC’s “measures to address unmanageable workloads.” In response, CMBC previously stated the main sticking point in the negotiations was the union’s compensation request beyond what was offered to other employees.

In reaction to the union’s threats, CMBC confirmed that a full service shutdown of bus and SeaBus services is possible, and reiterated that the main sticking point in negotiations remains the union’s wage increase request of 25% over the three-year life of the contact. The employer also provided a full breakdown of breakdown of the existing salaries of the supervisors, CMBC’s latest offer, and the request made by CUPE, which the employer has deemed to be unrealistic.

These 180 bus operations supervisors coordinate, lead, and oversee thousands of bus drivers, engineers, and other operations and maintenance workers, who are under a different union and are not engaged in the current job action.

Through Unifor, these bus drivers and operations workers reached an agreement with CMBC last year. Unifor was responsible for the last strike impacting TransLink services in Fall 2019.

Workers for West Vancouver Blue Bus, SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium lines, SkyTrain Canada Line, and West Coast Express are also not part of this job action, as they are under different union representation. Under labour laws, other public transit services are unable to increase their services to make up for any reduced bus capacity.

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