A three-day strike by SkyTrain workers was averted Tuesday as to a new tentative agreement was reached following a marathon bargaining session between CUPE 7000 and the BC Rapid Transit Company (SkyTrain).
Details of the tentative agreement will not be released until both parties have ratified it, but CUPE 7000 President Tony Rebelo said the “eleventh-hour deal” goes a long way to address many of the union’s concerns going into this latest round of bargaining.
“Both parties worked long and hard throughout the weekend, Monday, and in to Tuesday morning to get this deal done,” Rebelo said of the new agreement, reached just before 5 a.m. when a full shutdown of the Expo and Millennium lines was set to begin.
“We couldn’t have done it without the assistance of mediator Grant McArthur, so we thank him for his patience and wisdom throughout these talks,” said Rebelo. “I also want to thank my local bargaining committee and CUPE National staff for their efforts. Now it’s up to the members to ratify this agreement, which I can strongly recommend.”
BC Rapid Transit Company and CUPE 7000 have reached a tentative agreement. Please expect delays while we works towards providing regular schedules on the Expo and Millennium Lines today. ^CK
âš SkyTrain
âœ”ï¸ Bus
âœ”ï¸ Canada Line
âœ”ï¸ SeaBus
âœ”ï¸ HandyDART— TransLink BC (@TransLink) December 10, 2019
In a statement, President of BC Rapid Transit Company Michel Ladrak said the company is “pleased to announce it has reached a negotiated, tentative deal with CUPE 7000, which represents about 900 SkyTrain employees including station attendants and maintenance trades workers.”
“This is great news for our customers who depend on our services,” Ladrak’s statement adds. “There will be some delays in the start of service on the Expo and Millennium Line this morning. I thank all of our customers and staff for their patience through this uncertain time.”
READ MORE: SkyTrain strike to begin Tuesday with ‘full shutdown’, CUPE says
READ ALSO: CUPE issues 72-hour strike notice for SkyTrain, Dec. 6, 2019
READ ALSO: SkyTrain workers vote in 96.8% in favour of job action, union says, Nov. 21, 2019
amy.reid@surreynowleader.comLike us on Facebook and follow Amy on Twitter
