Threat of full-scale West Vancouver Blue Bus strike next week

West Vancouver Blue Bus. (District of West Vancouver)

West Vancouver Blue Bus services could see a “significant” job action escalation after the Labour Day long weekend, timed with the start of the new school year.

In a bulletin today, the union representing Blue Bus drivers and maintenance workers states job action will move into a new phase starting on Wednesday, September 7, asserting that the employer, the District of West Vancouver, has not moved the needle in negotiations.

This follows through on the union’s 30-day ultimatum on August 9 on escalating impacts to services.

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“Despite our willingness to bargain, West Vancouver District will not move, so we have to escalate our job action to get a contract,” said Cornel Neagu, the president of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 134, in a statement today.

“We know it will be especially busy with the return to school but we can’t keep going without a contract and no willingness by West Vancouver to address our major issues, so we can only advise residents to seek alternative transportation – and tell the mayor and Council to negotiate fairly with us.”

There have already been service disruptions to the Blue Bus since ATU Local 134 began a limited strike on July 23 of an overtime ban and uniform ban.

The accumulated impact of the overtime ban led to 30 of 64 buses being out of service on Monday due to the lack of mechanical inspections and repairs. Eight drivers were unable to go on their scheduled routes on Monday as a result of the shortage of operational buses.

Neagu asserts there is a need to retain and hire more mechanics instead of keeping the Blue Bus running with “massive overtime.”

According to the municipal government, the overtime ban has reduced bus services by an average of 10% on weekdays and 13% on weekends.

The union claims it has made very significant moves already by giving up on its requests for washroom breaks and other positions to avoid a full-scale strike to date. They state that currently, their biggest issues are wage parity for West Vancouver shuttle bus drivers with TransLink’s shuttle bus drivers, and a mandatory five-minute recovery period at the end of each driver’s route.

According to the union, due to no changes in the working conditions for decades, West Vancouver bus drivers have not had scheduled breaks like the region’s other bus drivers under TransLink.

As well, the union wants to end the practice that allows the Blue Bus to schedule “split shifts” where bus drivers can have up to four hours of unpaid time in between paid shifts for 30% of the routes. In contrast, TransLink drivers only have up to 30 minutes of unpaid time in their split shifts. Furthermore, the union is requesting the end of split shifts on Sundays and holidays for drivers.

The municipal government’s most recent statement on the labour dispute was made on Friday, in which it said a “desirable movement toward an agreement has been made” — a significant contrast with what the union has asserted.

As of late last week, the employer has offered a 3% wage increase for all workers, a 5% wage increase for maintenance workers, and a schedule for reducing the gap between TransLink and Blue Bus shuttle bus drivers over the life of the new contract.

As proposed by the employer, overtime pay will be increased so that double time would be paid after 10 hours instead of after 11 hours. A regular shift is eight hours.

As well, the municipal government is proposing to allow scheduled recovery time and assuring washroom breaks can be taken whenever needed, during any shift. Benefits would also improve, specifically paying for medical exams to maintain driver’s licenses, which the municipal government deems to be a significant cost as more frequent medical exams are needed as employees age.

The union represents 150 members who work for the Blue Bus system of 64 buses and an average of 18,000 boardings daily, including key routes that link the North Shore with downtown Vancouver via the Lions Gate Bridge.

The last labour dispute on the Blue Bus was in Fall 2016 and it led to a one-day full-scale strike.

Blue Bus services are operationally and jurisdictionally separate from the rest of Metro Vancouver’s services under TransLink, although they share some integration such as scheduling and fares.

Bus and SeaBus services operated by TransLink were disrupted in Fall 2019 due to labour action, but a strike of workers on the SkyTrain Expo and Millennium lines was narrowly averted.

In February 2021, a strike of SkyTrain Canada Line workers, separately operated by SNC Lavalin’s ProTrans BC division, was also averted.

In June 2022, BC Transit’s contractor for Sea to Sky Corridor buses — serving Squamish, Whistler, and Pemberton — resumed services after a 136-day-long, full-scale strike, making it the longest public transit strike in the history of the province.

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