VANCOUVER – It'll be relatively smooth sailing for SeaBus users on Tuesday, especially compared to recent days in the midst of Metro Vancouver's ongoing transit strike.
TransLink announced Tuesday morning that no SeaBus cancellations had been planned for the day, but bus delays could be possible. Most recently, TransLink had to cancel 12 sailings on Monday.
Talks first broke down between Unifor and Coast Mountain Bus Company in late October, with job action beginning Nov. 1.
The two parties tried to meet again last week but on Thursday, talks broke down once more and Unifor announced that job action would escalate.
That escalation includes bus drivers refusing overtime shifts, but only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of this week.
Even so, delays are still possible as bus maintenance workers continue to refuse overtime shifts, which they've been doing since the start of the month.
On Monday, Unifor's Gavin McGarrigle accused CMBC of "fearmongering."
"They're saying that the sky will fall if they treat their workers fairly," he told CTV Morning Live.
"I think it's actually the TransLink and Coast Mountain Bus Company executives that should be worried because from everything we're seeing, people know exactly where the blame for this dispute lies and it lies at the feet of the overpaid, unaccountable executives."
While the union's brought up a long list of issues, the main sticking point between Unifor and CMBC has been compensation.
But TransLink spokesperson Ben Murphy said there's no "magic pot of money" for the union's requests.
"I think the question the union needs to answer now is where do they want this to come from? You can increase fares, increase taxes or cut service," he said. "The more this drags on, the more commuters are going to be impacted and that is just unacceptable."
No talks between CMBC and Unifor are planned at this time.
