BURNABY— If a fair collective agreement is not reached before January 22, Lower Mainland transit supervisors will be escalating their strike, effectively shutting down all bus services. CUPE 4500, the union representing over 180 transit supervisors with Coast Mountain Bus Company, said if there is no agreement that addresses wage discrepancies and workload issues, union members will withdraw all services next Monday morning.
“CUPE 4500 has been waiting over four weeks for Coast Mountain to respond to our latest proposal. Our patience for Coast Mountain to take bargaining and our issues seriously has been exhausted,” said CUPE 4500 spokesperson Liam O’Neill at a press conference today in Burnaby. “Our members deserve a fair deal.”
Unless an agreement is reached, CUPE 4500 members will be withdrawing all services as of 3:00 a.m., January 22 for 48-hours. This means passengers in the Lower Mainland can expect the suspension of all buses and the SeaBus for the 2-day withdrawal.
“We regret the disruptions passengers will be experiencing, but we are out of options,” said O’Neill. “Unless Coast Mountain commits to ensure transit supervisors get the same wages as others doing similar work, and take our workload issues seriously, we are left with no choice.”
The overtime ban started by CUPE 4500 on January 6 will continue until an agreement is reached.
