Transit strike averted, tentative deal reached


Transit strike averted, tentative deal reached

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A full strike by bus and SeaBus workers has been averted.

The union representing transit workers, Unifor, and employer Coast Mountain Bus Company have reached a tentative agreement, stopping a planned three-day full-system strike from going ahead.

Unifor President Jerry Dias spoke about the deal at the Westin Bayshore hotel in Vancouver.

“As a result of the tentative agreement, there will be no disruption of any services. We will inform our workers to get back to work immediately. We’ll make sure that there is complete service tomorrow morning,” he says.

The details of the settlement aren’t being released until the agreement is ratified, but he adds they are pleased with the result.

“It has certainly reached many of the objectives that we set forward to resolve,” Dias added.

Michael McDaniel with Coast Mountain Bus Company said he was very happy with the agreement.

“Both sides worked extremely hard, and I’m very happy we have come to this agreement,” he says. “It balances all of the things we were trying to balance, and we’re very happy late tonight to get the deal done, and we’re off to get the system going right now. We are working on that right now.”

McDaniel adds there could be a few delays early Wednesday morning as workers resume their regular schedules.

“Obviously we are getting the system back up and going, but because it’s such a late hour, we may miss some of those early runs, but the good news is we have a deal, and I want to congratulate both sides for all of the work that they did in getting this done.”

The union gave the employer until midnight Wednesday morning to negotiate a new agreement, saying all bus and SeaBus routes would be cancelled Wednesday, Thursday and Friday if a deal wasn’t reached.

Unifor had initially set a deadline for midnight Wednesday morning, but extended it until 12:30 a.m.

Job action began Nov. 1. Employees had asked for improved working conditions, higher wages and benefits.




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