Chaos avoided: No threat to Metro Vancouver commutes as transit strike avoided
It’s official! The looming transit strike has been narrowly avoided, so bus and SeaBus services are no longer at risk of shutting down again.
The feeling of another strike had been stressing many Vancouverites ever since TransLink bus and SeaBus services did not operate earlier this month for 48 hours due to strike escalation. This strike aggravated commuters left stranded and weighed heavily on other services in the region, altogether creating chaos.
Due to the shutdown, people called for public transit buses to be designated as an essential service.
As commuters recovered from the first strike actions, there was a threat by CUPE 4500 (which represents the 180 supervisors) that if no collective agreement was reached by its deadline, members said it would strike again starting this weekend as they expand their picket lines to other facilities, including SkyTrain Stations.
This means it would have triggered a three-day shutdown of the buses and SeaBuses and potentially the Expo and Millennium services. Thatās because the unions for those workers could also be a part of the strike as they wouldn’t cross picket lines.
Now that the union representing its transit supervisors and Coast Mountain Bus Company has accepted recommendations from a special mediator, the next step will be to sign a Memorandum of Agreement before the ratification process.