16 sailings on SeaBus cancelled today due to transit strike
Significant impacts to SeaBus service can be expected today due to the ongoing labour action of transit workers that first began on Friday.
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TransLink says a total of 16 sailings on the ferries between Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver and Lonsdale in North Vancouver on Sunday, November 3 have been cancelled.
The cancelled sailings are as follows:
- 6 sailing cancellations in the afternoon:
- The 1:30pm from Lonsdale Quay and 1:45pm from Waterfront will be cancelled
- The 3:30pm from Lonsdale Quay and 3:45pm from Waterfront will be cancelled
- The 4:45pm from Lonsdale Quay and 5:00pm from Waterfront will be cancelled
- 10 sailing cancellations in the evening (between 6:45pm and 9:15pm):
- This will result in sailings every 30-minutes between 6:45pm and 9:15pm, instead of sailings every 15-minutes.
- Regular 30-minute service continues after 9:15pm until the final sailing.
The cancellations come after talks between Coast Mountain Bus Company and the union representing TransLink’s bus drivers and SeaBus workers broke off on Thursday.
Encompassing nearly 5,000 employees, the first phase includes a uniform ban by transit operators and an overtime ban by maintenance workers.
The uniform ban entails that bus drivers on all routes will stop wearing the CMBC uniform, with the goal of increasing conversations and awareness of the ongoing negotiations with passengers.
The overtime ban means that CMBC technicians and skilled trades workers will refuse overtime shifts, which according to Unifor, will “gradually increase pressure on the system.”
On Thursday, the union warned that if an agreement was not reached, the overtime ban could “quickly lead to fewer buses on the road and could also affect SeaBus service,” due to a buildup in repairs and maintenance jobs.
All three SkyTrain lines, West Vancouver Blue Bus, West Coast Express, and HandyDART are unaffected by the labour action.
With files from Eric Zimmer.
