Separate union for thousands of TransLink bus drivers takes aim at employer

CUPE 4500 strike outside TransLink's Burnaby Transit Centre bus depot on January 22, 2024. (Daniel Chai/Daily Hive)

The largest unions representing the workers of TransLink’s Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC) have chimed in on the ongoing dispute between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 4500 and CMBC.

Unifor 111 represents over 4,000 CMBC bus drivers, while Unifor 2200 represents 1,100 workers in the trades, support, and SeaBus operations under CMBC.

Although the 5,000+ members represented by both Unifor unions are not seeking a new contract and are engaged in the job action, they have been out of work and impacted since 3 am Monday, when 180 CMBC supervisors under CUPE 4500 walked off the job.

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Following cross-union solidarity, Unifor members are not crossing the picket lines of CUPE 4500 outside bus depots and SeaBus facilities, resulting in a complete shutdown of CMBC bus and SeaBus services.

Unifor today blamed CMBC’s refusal to find a solution in the ongoing negotiations with CUPE 4500 for two days of lost wages for thousands of bus drivers and other CMBC operations and maintenance workers caught in the middle of the dispute.

“I have been very clear with our members: they are not going to pay the price for CMBC’s inability to get their house in order. We encourage CMBC to get back to the bargaining table and find a solution before further disruptions occur,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne in a statement this afternoon.

Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s western regional director, added, “Unifor members are not on strike, but the employer took steps that prevented transit operators and maintenance staff from doing their job for two days. Coast Mountain has mishandled negotiations and the effects are snowballing. The employer must reach a fair contract with supervisors and ensure no Unifor members are financially penalized.”

In response to Unifor’s statements today, CMBC President and General Manager Michael McDaniel claims CUPE 4500 is refusing to accept the same wage increases recently provided to the thousands of CMBC bus drivers and operations and maintenance workers represented by Unifor 111 and Unifor 2200.

“If CUPE accepts the same wage increases Unifor already has, there would be no more labour action. The strike would end immediately,” reads the entirety of McDaniel’s statement this afternoon.

In April 2023, Unifor 111 and Unifor 2200 reached a three-year agreement with CMBC for wage increases between 11.25% and 12.5% over the life of the contract, plus various new benefits and concessions. This contract with thousands of CMBC bus drivers and operations and maintenance workers will expire in March 2026.

According to CMBC, CUPE 4500 is asking for wage increases of 20% to 25% over the three-year life of the new contract for five different types of CMBC supervisors that make up the 180 members who are striking. This includes 25% for “transit supervisors,” which make up about one-third of the 180 members. In contrast, CMBC is countering with 13.5% for three types of supervisors, 15% for one type of supervisor, and 24.5% for one type of supervisor — all over three years.

Furthermore, according to CMBC, CUPE 4500’s basis for the higher wage increases is that CMBC Transit Supervisors should be paid the same as SkyTrain Field Supervisors. CMBC states SkyTrain Field Supervisors have a very different and more complex role than CMBC Transit Supervisors, with each SkyTrain field supervisor responsible for managing about 30 employees, hiring and disciplining employees, and directly participating in employee grievances. As well, according to CMBC’s breakdown, SkyTrain Field Supervisors require more skills training and certified education.

CMBC Transit Supervisors account for about one-third of the entire group of 180 CMBC supervisors currently on strike.

During yesterday’s CUPE 4500 press conference, a CUPE 4500 spokesperson claimed CMBC’s release of bargaining information “does not reflect the discussions that happened at the table” and indicated the union’s preference to not engage in “bargaining in the media.”

In July 2023, TransLink’s BC Rapid Transit Company (BCRTC) reached a deal with Unifor 111 and Unifor 2200 to provide over 1,000 workers on SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium lines with a new five-year deal. The contract between September 2023 and August 2028 provides BCRTC’s SkyTrain workers with general wage increases of 6.75%, plus 2% to 3%, depending on the Consumer Price Index average, and 2.5% for the remaining three years.

Workers with SkyTrain Canada Line are under the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU), and they saw their contract with the employer, ProTransBC, expire at the end of December 2023.

In yesterday’s TransLink press conference, TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn suggested that if they accept CUPE 4500’s wage request, this will set a precedent for other unions to start at a much higher place in future labour negotiations. He asserted there would be a cumulative effect that could cost $250 million over 10 years, adding to TransLink’s forecasted revenue shortfall of $4.7 billion over the coming years.

The current 48-hour shutdown of CMBC bus and SeaBus services is expected to end in the early morning hours of Wednesday, January 24, with the 180 CMBC supervisors returning to work. However, this is only a temporary reprieve, as CUPE 4500 has indicated it will escalate job action soon afterward, possibly with another shutdown.

There is also a risk that the current strike of 180 CMBC supervisors under CUPE 4500 could spillover to thousands of other public transit workers represented by other unions, resulting in the service shutdowns of other services like SkyTrain Expo Line, SkyTrain Millennium Line, SkyTrain Canada Line, West Coast Express, and West Vancouver Blue Bus. This could happen as early as Monday, January 29, if the BC Labour Relations Board sides with CUPE 4500 in their complaint and application to expand their job action to other public transit facilities — not just CMBC bus and SeaBus facilities. The unions have expressed cross-union solidarity and have vowed to join the picket lines if CUPE 4500 members legally pick up at their facilities.

Prior to the current 2024 public transit strike, Unifor was the last TransLink workers’ union to engage in job action, as it was responsible for the Fall 2019 job action, with its job action escalation into a full shutdown of bus and SeaBus services narrowly averted from a deal reached at midnight. Days later, a full shutdown of SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium lines was also narrowly averted when a deal with CUPE 7000 was reached after 4 am.

A shutdown of West Vancouver Blue Bus, which is owned and operated by the District of West Vancouver, was averted in September 2022.

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