25% wage increase for bus supervisors "not realistic": TransLink's CMBC

Darcy Matheson/Daily Hive

There is no end in sight to the job action of bus operations supervisors for Metro Vancouver’s public transit system.

Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC) says the union representing 180 bus operations supervisors is asking for a 25% wage increase for their members over three years.

During a press conference this morning, CMBC spokesperson Mike Killeen said the union’s expectations for the wage increase are “not realistic,” and that this is the “sticking point” in the negotiations.

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In a subsequent statement to Daily Hive Urbanized this afternoon, CMBC president and general manager Michael McDaniel says they are urging Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 4500 to “return to the bargaining table with realistic expectations.” According to CMBC, the union’s request is nearly double the increase that all other CMBC unions have accepted.

McDaniel adds that so far, there have been no impacts on TransLink’s bus services due to the union’s overtime ban, which began on Saturday morning.

Daily Hive Urbanized has reached out to CUPE 4500 for comment on the statements made today by CMBC, which is the TransLink division responsible for operating and maintaining the bus and SeaBus systems.

On Monday, CUPE 4500 warned a full walkout of the 180 bus operations supervisors over the coming days is not out of the question. This could also coincide with the expected potential snowfall and sub-zero temperatures beginning Thursday and into next week, when special winter weather preparations and operations are expected to kick in.

The union says the overtime ban will have a cumulative impact over the coming days, when “buses are lost to unaddressed maintenance issues, and supervisors are unavailable to help resolve the many service interruptions that can naturally occur across the system.”

The union is at odds with working conditions, compensation, and CMBC’s “measures to address unmanageable workloads.” This also comes at a time when TransLink is looking to retain and hire many more workers for its ambitious bus service expansion plans over the coming years.

The union members involved in CUPE 4500’s job action are employed in roles such as 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.

These supervisors coordinate, lead, and oversee thousands of bus drivers, mechanics, engineers, and other operations and maintenance workers.

It should be emphasized that these CMBC supervisors under CUPE 4500 are separate from the vast majority of CMBC workers under Unifor Local 111 and Unifor Local 2200. Unifor Local 111 represents over 4,000 bus drivers, while Unifor Local 2200 represents 1,100 workers in the trades, support, and within SeaBus operations. Both Unifor unions were responsible for the last strike impacting TransLink services in Fall 2019.

In April 2023, Unifor Local 111 and Unifor Local 2200 reached a three-year agreement with CMBC. This separate contract for bus drivers and other CMBC workers will expire in March 2026. Over the life of the contract, these other CMBC workers will receive a wage increase between 11.25% and 12.5%, along with other benefits.

Then in July 2023, CUPE 7000, representing over 1,000 workers on SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium lines, reached a five-year agreement with TransLink subsidiary BC Rapid Transit Company (BCRTC). The contract will expire in August 2028.

Additionally, workers on SkyTrain’s Canada Line, which is separately privately operated by SNC Lavalin’s Protrans BC division, just saw their four-year contract expire at the end of December 2023. Nearly 200 Canada Line workers are represented by the BC General Employees’ Union. (BCGEU).

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