Commuters in Metro Vancouver should leave themselves some spare time come Monday morning, as the union representing bus drivers ramps up its job action.
Unifor, which represents 5,000 bus and SeaBus operators, and maintenance workers, said its drivers will refuse overtime shifts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The move comes as the transit dispute with the Coast Mountain Bus Company enters its third week. Bus drivers have been ditching uniforms and maintenance workers have not taken overtime shifts since Nov. 1.
At issue in the strike are the Coast Mountain Bus Company’s wages, which the union believes are not up to par with either their TransLink counterparts or with those in the Greater Toronto Area.
The other concern are minimum mandatory breaks for bus drivers. Both sides walked away from the table Thursday, less than two full days after bargaining resumed Wednesday morning.
TransLink said Sunday they believe the renewed strike action will see a 10 per cent drop in bus service around the board.
SeaBus will be operating on its regular schedule with a total of four sailing cancellations:
- 7:20 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. from Lonsdale Quay
- 7:35 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. from Waterfront
TransLink said it will provide a bus bridge to make up for some of the SeaBus cancellations, but warned it won’t make up the whole difference.
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