Major strike of West Vancouver Blue Bus averted with new agreement
The possibility of a serious strike escalation of West Vancouver Blue Bus services starting on Thursday, resulting in major service disruptions, has been completely called off.
In a statement this morning, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 134 said an agreement has been reached with the District of West Vancouver to use binding arbitration to reach a new collective agreement.
Not only is a full-scale strike averted, but all previously implemented job action — the overtime ban, and the ban on wearing uniforms — will end tomorrow as well.
If an agreement to use binding arbitration had not been reached, the Blue Bus services would have entered daily rotating strikes starting Thursday.
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“We are pleased to announce that ATU Local 134’s offer to go to binding arbitration to resolve all outstanding issues needed to reach a new collective agreement has been accepted by West Vancouver District this morning and we will meet later today to work out the details,” said ATU Local 134 president Cornel Neagu in a statement.
Job action of Blue Bus workers first began on July 23 with the overtime ban and uniform ban. As of early last week, the accumulated impact of the overtime ban led to 30 of 64 buses being out of service due to the lack of mechanical inspections and repairs, and eight drivers were unable to go on their scheduled routes as a result of the shortage of operational buses.
ATU Local 134 is looking for wage parity for Blue Bus shuttle bus drivers with TransLink drivers.
The union has been seeking a mandatory five-minute recovery time 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.
The union claims its members have already dropped a request for washroom breaks and nearly half of their other bargaining positions.
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, and end split shifts on Sundays and holidays for drivers. In contrast, TransLink drivers only have up to 30 minutes of unpaid time in their split shifts. Furthermore, they want to see improvements in the current Long Term Disability plan.
As of late August, the municipal government 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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