Photo: VANCOUVER – September 8, 2017: A high angle view of many commercial city buses parked in the terminal station in south Vancouver, Canada on September 8, 2017 / Shutterstock
NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — Last-minute contract talks have been scheduled for Tuesday with a transit strike facing commuters in Metro Vancouver set to begin the following day.
Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor's lead negotiator, says the union is prepared to negotiate until midnight Wednesday and if no agreement is reached, a three-day strike will begin, affecting about 350,000 transit users.
Wages are one of the key issues in the dispute.
Unifor has complained the latest offer isn't comparable to salaries in other major cities.
Translink CEO Kevin Desmond says the last wage offer made to the union is based on market conditions.
McGarrigle says the union is prepared to compromise and its members don't expect to earn the wages paid to workers doing the same jobs in Toronto, but they would like to start narrowing the gap.
He says Unifor's national president, Jerry Dias, will join the negotiations.
The union is threatening to call a strike that would affect bus and sea bus ferry services from Wednesday to Friday.
Desmond said Monday that TransLink is looking for ways to increase access to drop-off points near its SkyTrain lines, which would not be affected by a strike.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2019.
