Metro Vancouver transit workers' union issues 72-hour strike notice

The union representing more than 180 transit workers in British Columbia's Lower Mainlandhas issued a 72-hour strike notice.

CUPE Local 4500 represents some of the workers employed by the Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC), a subsidiary of TransLink, the transit authority for Metro Vancouver.

The notice is effective as of 8 a.m. PT Wednesday.

The union says it is still available to negotiate a collective agreement that avoids service disruptions.

It says job action could begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday with an overtime ban that would affect all operations in the CMBCsystem.

The union which represents transit supervisors, engineers and a range of maintenance workers within the transit system says the last collective agreement expired at the end of 2022 and bargaining didn't start until this past October.

Members voted 100 per cent in favour of a strike mandate last month.

"We regard job action as the last resort in our effort to reach a fair deal, but we don't see an alternative," Chris Gindhu, president of CUPE Local 4500, said in a statement. "To date, Coast Mountain has been unwilling to address our key issues."

According to union representative Liam O'Neill, key issues include wage increases andunsustainable workloads, the latter of which he said is related to low staffing levels.

"We have some of our members working more overtime than they work straight hours," O'Neill told CBC News.

CMBC president Michael McDaniel said in a statement that the employer does not anticipate the union's potential overtime ban to impact transit services at this time. The company employs a total of almost 6,000 people, mostly bus drivers, according to the TransLink website.

"[CMBC]has offered CUPE Local 4500 the same general wage increase that was already agreed to by all other CMBC employees," he said. "This offer is consistent with other public sector settlements in British Columbia.

"We urge the union to return to the bargaining table to finalize a deal."

The proposed strike by transit workers comes on the heels of a historic yearfor labour action in B.C. and Canada.

Transit workers in the Comox Valley wenton strikein December, following a four-month drivers' strikein the Fraser Valley over the summer.