Photo: The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — The first day of job action by transit workers in Metro Vancouver caused SeaBus cancellations on a busy commuter route across the Burrard Inlet.
TransLink said seven SeaBus round trips, totalling 14 sailings, were cancelled starting Friday afternoon and into the evening. The transit authority warned commuters to expect delays and to consider using buses instead.
The first stage of the job action included transit workers not wearing uniforms and refusing overtime.
Unifor, the union representing 5,000 transit workers, had predicted that maintenance workers’ refusal to work overtime could affect SeaBus service between Vancouver and North Vancouver by the afternoon rush.
Mike McDaniel, president of the Coast Mountain Bus Company, said further delays were likely on the weekend with about 30 sailings expected to be cancelled on Saturday and Sunday.
Unifor is asking for an additional $608 million in wages, benefits and improvements to working conditions over 10 years, he told a news conference.
McDaniel said the company’s current offer would increase maintenance workers’ wages 12.2 per cent and transit workers’ wages 9.6 per cent over four years. It would also enhance benefits and improve working conditions.
“We are OK with offering more than what the rest of the public sector gets in British Columbia, because we need to address the specific things that we’ve looked at doing,” he said.
“What that means, though, is that this is a more than reasonable offer we have on the table.”
All BC Biz Stories
