By Canadian Press

B.C. union representing Lower Mainland transit workers issues 72-hour strike notice

Jan 2, 2024 | 9:35 PM

BURNABY, B.C. — A union representing more than 180 transit workers in B.C. has issued a 72-hour strike notice.

CUPE Local 4500 represents workers employed by the Coast Mountain Bus Company, which runs transit operations for all of Metro Vancouver.

The notice is effective at 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

The union says it is still available to negotiate a collective agreement that avoids service disruptions.

It says job action could begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday with an overtime ban that would affect all operations in the Coast Mountain system.

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The union says the last collective agreement expired at the end of 2022 and bargaining didn’t start until this past October.

Members voted 100 per cent in favour of a strike mandate last month.

“We regard job action as the last resort in our effort to reach a fair deal, but we don’t see an alternative,” Chris Gindhu, president of CUPE Local 4500, said in a statement. “To date, Coast Mountain has been unwilling to address our key issues.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2024.

The Canadian Press