Buses in West Vancouver won’t be running Monday unless the bus drivers’ union and the municipality reach an 11th hour agreement.
“There will be no busses, period, on Monday,” said Bill Tieleman, speaking on behalf of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 134, which represents unionized bus drivers and mechanics who work for West Vancouver’s Blue Bus system.
The Blue Bus strike had originally been planned as a time-limited action for Friday but that was put on hold after the two sides met briefly for talks on Wednesday afternoon. Tieleman said the strike is now back on for the full day Monday, unless something changes over the weekend.
He added the union may add other days to the strike next week, but will give the public 24-hours notice.
West Vancouver Mayor Michael Smith said he was disappointed in the news.
“A lot of our residents really rely on that bus service,” he said. “I don’t like to deny them a service they are paying for through their taxes.”
“We’re trying to encourage people to ride transit,” he added. “It makes absolutely no sense.”
Shana Eslamboli, riding a Blue Bus in Ambleside Wednesday, said a bus strike will definitely affect her. “I don’t have a car right now. That’s why I’m on the bus,” she said. “I need the bus to do grocery shopping, banking, everything.”
The union put an overtime ban in place this week, which has resulted in bus cancellations on certain routes this week. The municipality has been posting a list of impacted bus routes on its website.
Mediated talks between the municipality and transit union broke down a week ago when a mediator booked out of talks because the two sides were too far apart.
The union received a 100 per cent strike vote from its members at the end of August.
Each side blamed the other for the breakdown in talks, including the session on Wednesday.
Both sides reportedly came to the meeting with identical positions to those they had during previous bargaining sessions. “The meeting ended without a resolution,” said Jeff McDonald, spokesman for the municipality.
So far, the two sides haven’t even been able to agree on what they disagree about.
Tieleman characterized the dispute as involving concessions to benefits being sought by the municipality. McDonald said that isn’t true.
“If the union believes there are concessions and the district doesn’t believe there are, then there’s a significant problem between the two sides,” said Tieleman.
The District of West Vancouver operates the local Blue Bus system under contract to TransLink, as part of a historical agreement between the parties. Busses in other parts of the Lower Mainland are operated by the Coast Mountain Bus Co.
The Blue Bus system has been in place for 100 years without a transit strike.
– with files from Maria Spitale-Leisk
