Metro Vancouver transit workers to receive pay bump in new agreement

Transit operators and maintenance staff in Metro Vancouver are set to receive a pay bump as part of a new collective agreement ratified this week.

Coast Mountain Bus Company, a subsidiary of TransLink, green-lit the deal Monday with 74 per cent of union members in favour.

The one-year contract extension includes wage increases of three per cent for operators and five per cent of skilled trades workers in maintenance, effective April 1.

“Transit workers have been serving communities on the front lines of a pandemic for two years,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor western regional director, in a Tuesday news release.

“We will revisit this collective agreement next year with an eye to securing additional gains going forward.”

The new contract expires on March 31 next year and the union said the wage increase will help attract much-needed staff to keep up with an increase in demand as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes.

More than 5,000 Unifor members work in the Lower Mainland for Coast Mountain Bus Company.

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Meanwhile, Whistler-area transit operators remain on strike, claiming BC Transit has refused to close the “pay gap” between its workers and those doing the same tasks in cities like Vancouver and Victoria.

Those workers have been on strike since Jan. 29.

“The labour dispute is between BC Transit’s contractors — Whistler Transit Ltd. and Diversified Transit — and their unionized employees,” BC Transit said at the time.

“BC Transit is closely monitoring the situation and hopes the parties will find resolution soon.”