SkyTrain workers vote 95 percent in favour of strike

by Stephen Hui on March 24th, 2014 at 10:15 AM

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SkyTrain workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees have voted 95 percent in favour of a strike mandate.

CUPE Local 7000, which includes 537 SkyTrain operators, attendants, dispatchers, and office and maintenance staff, would have to give 72 hours' notice to the B.C. Labour Relations Board before taking any job action.

In a news release today (March 24), the union says negotiations with TransLink subsidiary British Columbia Rapid Transit Company Ltd., which runs the Expo and Millennium Lines, broke off last month and they are meeting for mediation next week. Its members' contract expired last August.

“The strike vote result shows just how frustrated our members are,” CUPE 7000 spokesperson Annaliese Hunt said in the release. “In light of other recent settlements with transit workers, there’s no good reason for the employer not to settle this. What we want is a new collective agreement so we can get on with the job of serving the public.”

Issues left to be settled involve wages and benefits, according to the union.

“This should be very straight forward,” Hunt said in the release. “We need a realistic contract that respects the hard-earned benefits our members have negotiated and a fair settlement for all our members.”

BCRTC also operates the West Coast Express commuter rail service. A private contractor, InTransit BC, runs the Canada Line under a 35-year agreement with TransLink.

Comments

21 Comments

cranky mom

Mar 24, 2014 at 11:21am

OMG, you have to be joking. They have one of the most lucrative pay, OT, sick & holiday packages in the city. Give me a break. $25 - $29/ per hour for unskilled labour. Stat holidays they make $40-$50 an hour. Maybe the skytrain police should ask for more money too? Some skytrain employees have 7 weeks vacation. Is that a sustainable business model? Give me a break.

bela the bug

Mar 24, 2014 at 11:31am

Yeah baby...do NOT behave. Make sure you blow it up real good. In Crusty's face.

AJ

Mar 24, 2014 at 12:12pm

Crazy since they get soooo much more then other people struggling in this economy. Why don't they just hire new workers? Other then the operators, most seem to be standing around always anyways with their thumb up their ass.

Shelley

Mar 24, 2014 at 1:00pm

Well, if this information is presented to aid the public in forming an opinion of the stewardship of their common purse, then what is the current compensation and context for it?

Surely this is not presented to be a random occurrence beyond the control or understanding of humans, like an earthquake.

outstanding!

Mar 24, 2014 at 9:14pm

Yes, now we'll see exactly how much of an impact that "transit" has on road congestion - almost none. About fuckin time.

Ian Jerkvas

Mar 24, 2014 at 9:26pm

Fuck you striking transit scum, SkyTrain is automated, we don't need you!

Uh, well that's what we tell everyone to make SkyTrain appear cheap to operate. Actually it is a lie. But hey, fuck you! No one cares.

ACMESalesRep

Mar 24, 2014 at 11:41pm

cranky mom: Would you work for SkyTrain for that money? Assuming you met the hiring criteria? There's nothing unskilled about transit work, and $60k (gross) doesn't seem unreasonable for the job –especially given that it's shift work and Vancouver has the highest cost of living in the country.

Natty

Mar 25, 2014 at 7:38am

You would think in the 21st century Unions would have found a new way to protest "unfair" working conditions. Strikes only serve to alienate the people who depend on particular services. Win the hearts and mind of the public, and the rest will come.