Second tentative deal reached for Metro Vancouver transit workers after first rejected | Daily Hive

Second tentative deal reached for Metro Vancouver public transit workers after first rejected

TransLink

A second tentative collective agreement has been reached for more than 5,000 public transit workers under TransLink operating subsidiary Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC), potentially averting labour disruptions across Metro Vancouver’s bus and SeaBus network.

These workers include thousands of bus drivers, as well as mechanics and maintenance workers and SeaBus crew.

Unifor Locals 111 and 2200 and CMBC announced the agreement on Tuesday, July 21, following further negotiations between the union and the employer. The latest round of talks was held with the assistance of provincial mediator Trevor Sones.

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Both sides originally reached a tentative agreement a month ago on June 22, but the union’s membership voted against it later in the month, with union leadership citing calls from their members for further improvements to working conditions, including running times, recovery times, and breaks.

The second tentative agreement must still be approved by union members. A ratification meeting will be held in the coming days.

Unifor said it will not publicly release details of the tentative deal until affected workers have had an opportunity to review its terms and cast their votes.

In late May, union members overwhelmingly voted in favour of strike action, giving Unifor the legal authority to issue a 72-hour strike notice if negotiations had broken down.

The labour dispute had first publicly emerged about three weeks before Vancouver began hosting FIFA World Cup matches.

The previous three-year collective agreement for these 5,000 workers expired on March 31, 2026. According to the union, the negotiations for a new contract began on Feb. 2, 2026, but talks deteriorated after the employer refused to withdraw proposals the union says would weaken workplace protections and allow more contracting out of public transit work.

The last labour dispute of Metro Vancouver public transit workers occurred in late 2023 and culminated in early 2024, involving over 180 workers — employed in the key CMBC positions of transit managers and supervisors — under the separate union entity of CUPE Local 4500 walking off the job in late January 2024.

As workers under different unions could not cross picket lines, the strike led to major bus service disruptions across the region and continued service uncertainty for weeks, and there was also a threat of labour action spilling into other unions representing SkyTrain and SeaBus workers as a measure of solidarity. However, with the help of mediation, a full strike-induced shutdown of all services was narrowly averted in early February 2024.

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