National

Metro Vancouver residents scramble for another ride as bus strike drags into Day 2

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Jan, 2024 10:43 AM

Hundreds of thousands of Metro Vancouver residents are without a bus ride again today as striking transit supervisors carry on with their 48-hour strike.

There is no bus and SeaBus services due to ongoing job action at CMBC by CUPE 4500. SkyTrain (Expo, Canada Line, Millennium Line), WCE and HandyDART service not expected to be impacted. Visit https://t.co/Viw4DNrYh1 or call 604-953-3333 ^CK pic.twitter.com/IHJEfDB2rV
— TransLink BC (@TransLink) January 23, 2024

The dispute between more than 180 members of CUPE Local 4500 and Coast Mountain Bus Company has stopped 96 per cent of the region's buses as well as the SeaBus across Burrard Inlet.

B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains says his ministry is considering appointing a special mediator in the dispute, although he also urged both sides to start talking again.

Union spokesman Liam O'Neill says members aren't happy about taking the action and they tried to pressure the employer without affecting the public but Coast Mountain is unwilling to deal with a wage discrepancy and is trying to bully the union.

Coast Mountain president Michael McDaniel says the union won't adjust its demand for wage increases and the company has offered more overtime pay and improved benefits and committed to hiring more supervisors.

The strike is expected to end in time for the morning commute Wednesday, although O'Neill says action will escalate if Coast Mountain doesn't come back to the table with a better offer.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Driver killed after car plunged from second floor of UBC parkade building

Police have confirmed the driver of a car that plunged off the second floor of a multi-storey parkade building at the University of British Columbia was killed in the crash. RCMP say the male driver of the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene Wednesday after his car crashed through a concrete wall and landed at ground level.

Driver killed after car plunged from second floor of UBC parkade building

Body found in Chilliwack home

B-C's Integrated Homicide Investigation Unit says officers were deployed to a Chilliwack home yesterday after a 66-year-old woman was found dead. It says officers also found a 37-year old man suffering non-life-threatening injuries and a 68-year-old man was arrested at the scene.

Body found in Chilliwack home

All Vancouver, Fraser Valley schools shut for second day as winter weather persists

All public schools in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley are shut for a second day, with more winter weather expected a day after a snowstorm caused havoc in southern British Columbia. Post-secondary institutions in the region such as the University of B.C., Simon Fraser University, the B.C. Institute of Technology and Kwantlen Polytechnic University have also cancelled all in-person classes again.

All Vancouver, Fraser Valley schools shut for second day as winter weather persists

Softwood spat due to housing shortage

Canada's international trade minister says the great North American softwood lumber standoff is putting a drag on the continent's already tight housing supply. Mary Ng says Ottawa will contest the U.S. International Trade Commission's latest decision to maintain "unjustified" duties on imports of Canadian softwood.

Softwood spat due to housing shortage

Woman stabbed in Surrey

Mounties in Surrey say they need help in finding a man who stabbed a woman. Police say the report came in last night of an attack on the woman by an unknown male.

Woman stabbed in Surrey

B.C.'s $36-billion hydro plan opens clean power economic opportunities, says premier

Premier David Eby says a planned 10-year, $36 billion expansion of British Columbia's electrical system will open economic opportunities and ensure ample power to supply the province's growing population. It's a 50 per cent increase in capital project investments by BC Hydro, the province's public energy utility, which Eby says will focus on increasing electrification and operations that reduce emissions across the province.