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12/9/2019
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 7000 has issued a 72-hour strike notice to the BC Rapid Transit Co. following four days of mediation and more than 40 days of direct bargaining that produced no new agreement covering about 900 SkyTrain workers. The strike would start at at 5 a.m. (PST) tomorrow if an agreement isn't reached.
The union represents SkyTrain attendants, control operators, and administrative, maintenance and technical staff. The last contract between TransLink-BC Rapid Transit expired Aug. 31, and nearly 97 percent of CUPE 7000 members at SkyTrain — which serves metro Vancouver, British Columbia — cast a strike vote on Nov. 21.
"We are still committed to reaching an agreement at the table, and our committee will make itself available … to reach a fair deal without any interruption of service," said CUPE 7000 President Tony Rebelo in a press release. "We will need to work very hard to reach a deal that addresses our concerns about wages, forced overtime, staffing levels and trades adjustment language, among other issues."
The parties remain in bargaining talks. Due to the proposed strike, SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium lines will not operate Dec. 10-12, TransLink officials announced. All other transit modes will operate, but are expected to be busier than usual, they said.