Bus and SeaBus services in Metro Vancouver resumed on January 24th after a 48-hour strike by supervisors that brought Coast Mountain Bus Company routes to a halt. TransLink, the regional transport operator, confirmed that regular services had resumed on the morning of January 24th, with the exception of the NightBus service, which was set to return in the evening.
The union representing 180 transit supervisors announced that they would be returning to work by 3 a.m., and Coast Mountain anticipated that services would be running normally before the morning rush hour. Despite the return to work on January 24th, there was no resolution in sight for the contract dispute that led to the shutdown, which impacted an estimated 300,000 riders per day. Negotiations between the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4500 and Coast Mountain had broken down on Sunday.
The bus company claimed that the union was demanding a 25 percent pay raise, which they deemed unreasonable. On the other hand, the union accused Coast Mountain of bullying during the negotiations. Discussions of when negotiations would resume had not been scheduled, but B.C.’s Labour Minister, Harry Bains, announced on January 22nd that he was contemplating the appointment of a special mediator to help resolve the standstill.
The strike by transit supervisors had caused Coast Mountain services to cease, as drivers who are part of a different union chose not to cross the picket lines.