Some bus riders in Caulfeild, Dundarave and those hoping to get home to West Vancouver from UBC or Capilano University found themselves cooling their heels at bus stops Monday and Tuesday as the first stage of a bus drivers’ strike hit the West Vancouver Blue Bus system.
Some buses on specific routes were either running late or were cancelled entirely both days as the union representing West Vancouver Blue Bus drivers and mechanics put an overtime ban in place as the first stage of job action following a breakdown in mediated bargaining talks.
Several buses including those on routes between downtown Vancouver and Horseshoe Bay, Dundarave and Caulfeild, and those between West Vancouver and Capilano University and UBC were among those affected.
“I’m very disappointed,” said West Vancouver Mayor Michael Smith. “We’re in the business of providing service to residents. One of the services they value is transit services. The union has seen fit to go on strike and use our citizens as a strategy. It’s completely unnecessary.”
Mediated talks between the municipality and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 134 broke down on Friday when mediator Grant McArthur booked out of talks because the two sides were too far apart.
The union had served 72-hour strike notice prior to the Labour Day weekend in September after receiving a 100 per cent strike vote from its members. Job action had been on hold as long as mediated talks continued.
The overtime ban means when a bus gets delayed and a driver might have to work longer to complete the route, that doesn’t happen, said Jeff McDonald, spokesman for the district. If a driver calls in sick and another driver would have to work overtime to replace them, “they won’t do that either,” he added. The municipality is posting a list of impacted bus routes on its website.
Both sides blamed the other for the breakdown in talks.
Union spokesman Bill Tieleman said the dispute between the union and the district involves concessions to benefits being sought by the municipality.
McDonald said that isn’t true. He said the municipality has offered a wages and benefits package comparable to that given to Coast Mountain bus drivers. He said the union has asked for the district to pay for a long-term disability plan that is not part of the Coast Mountain agreement. The district has rejected that as too expensive.
Smith said the job action by bus drivers is frustrating. “We are committed to paying fair wages and benefits for all our employees, including transit workers,” he said. “We don’t have a problem with any of our other unions. Council is going to need to ask at some point why we continue to have a problem with just this one union and are there some alternatives we should be looking at.”
The District of West Vancouver operates the local Blue Bus system under contract to TransLink, as part of a historical agreement between the parties. Buses in other parts of the Lower Mainland are operated by the Coast Mountain Bus Co.
According to a District of West Vancouver employee survey conducted in May and June this year, transit workers consistently rated their job satisfaction lower than employees of other municipal departments.
Smith said he hasn’t heard what the problems are. “If transit workers have some issues, they should feel free to bring them up,” he said. “We’ve heard absolutely nothing.”
Both sides said they are still hoping a deal can be worked out.
“We are really trying not to go into anything that would disrupt service,” said Tieleman. “At some point you have no choice.”
No further talks had been scheduled as of Tuesday afternoon.
McDonald said the last contract offer put forward by the municipality remains the offer on the table.
Tieleman said the union could meet as early as Wednesday to discuss further escalation in the strike action.
