B.C. appoints special mediator in ongoing Metro Van transit labour dispute
Posted January 24, 2024 10:43 am.
Last Updated January 24, 2024 7:40 pm.
In an effort to prevent another transit shutdown in Metro Vancouver, the B.C. government has appointed a special mediator to help resolve the ongoing labour dispute.
Vince Ready will now take on the role as special mediator, which allows him to make recommendations that would be made public.
He had already been acting as a mediator between CUPE 4500 and Coast Mountain Bus Company, before talks broke down over the weekend and 180 unionized transit supervisors walked off the job Monday morning.
B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains says, starting Thursday, Ready will work with both sides “for a period of up to six days to secure a resolution.”
He adds if a deal isn’t reached in that time, Ready will issue non-binding recommendations on Feb. 2, after which the union and employer will have five days to either accept or reject those proposals.
“With his appointment, the parties have all the tools they need to reach an agreement, and I thank them for agreeing to work with him to end this dispute,” Bains said in a release Wednesday.
Previously, Bains had made it clear he would only move to this step if both the employer and union agreed.
“Under the Labour Relations Code, a special mediator assists in settling the terms of a collective agreement and issues a report to the Minister of Labour and the parties if no settlement is reached.”
He says Ready has a long-standing record of settling labour disputes, noting he is “a highly regarded mediator in the labour relations community.”
Coast Mountain Bus Company President and GM Michael McDaniel says CMBC “welcomes the appointment.”
“This is good news for the hundreds of thousands of people who have had their lives disrupted this week,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
“We hope the union will not resume any job action while the Special Mediator is doing his work. CMBC is committed to working closely with the Special Mediator in the coming days. As such, CMBC will decline further comment.”
The 48-hour strike, which began Monday at 3 a.m. and stalled bus and SeaBus service in Metro Vancouver, ended Wednesday morning.
On Monday, CUPE 4500 spokesperson Liam O’Neill said there was a “long-standing wage discrepancy,” and claimed his members “do the same work as other supervisors in TransLink, and yet, they’re paid less.”
TransLink has refuted that suggestion, saying CMBC supervisors and SkyTrain supervisors are “two very different positions.”
O’Neill also noted at the time that additional potential job action was not off the table if the impasse continued. While he did not specify what that would look like, he said it would be “an escalation” from the bus and SeaBus stoppage.
