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Talks between workers union, SkyTrain have reached an ‘impasse’: CUPE

No talk of strikes yet, union president said
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Talks between SkyTrain attendants and the company that runs the Expo and Millennium lines have broken down, according to the union.

Tony Rebelo, the president of CUPE 7000, said the executive will now go to its members for the next steps.

“We have a few meetings set up this week and next week,” Rebelo said.

“We’ll let them know where we’re at in the bargaining process and what the company hasn’t addressed yet.”

The labour dispute is between the 900 SkyTrain attendants who work on the Expo and Millennium lines and the B.C. Rapid Transit Company, which operates the lines for TransLink.

According to the union, the bargaining process, which began in May, has now spanned more than 40 meetings. The workers have been without a contact since the start of September.

At issue, Rebelo said, are staffing levels, “forced” overtime, a lack of a sick plan, and wage increases.

But the union is not considering a strike “at this time,” he said.

In a statement, B.C. Rapid Transit Company president Michel Ladrak said they were “open to further discussing what has been offered and urge the union to continue negotiating with us.”

The CUPE 7000 dispute, which does not affect the Canada Line or the West Coast Express commuter train, is separate from the current bus and SeaBus strike. That strike is for Coast Mountain Bus Company workers, who operate and maintain the bus fleet and are represented by Unifor.

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@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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