Inside the Lonsdale Quay transit hub Monday, there was a slow trickle of commuters who’d arrived on foot only to find the SeaBus terminal gates closed and locked.
“It’s eerily quiet. It’s never like this,” said Mike Killeen, spokesman for Coast Mountain Bus Company, which operates TransLink’s buses and the SeaBus.
TransLink was forced to suspend all bus and SeaBus service for 48 hours, starting early Monday morning after Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4500 members went on strike. The union, which represents about 180 transit supervisors with TransLink’s operator Coast Mountain Bus Company, has been without a contract since 2022.
Emily Carr University of Art + Design student David Alano was left sitting in the Lonsdale Quay bus loop, scrolling through his contact list and hoping to catch a ride with friends after learning that transit was no longer an option.
“They haven’t responded to me yet but I’ve called my stepdad to drive me to school,” he said, adding that he’ll also have to find another ride back to the North Shore afterwards. “Really, it’s my only mode of transport apart from carpooling … so it’s quite necessary.”
According to TransLink, the SeaBus averaged 12,820 daily boardings on weekdays in 2022.
Helen Miller was headed to an investment conference downtown when she decided to turn around and go home, rather than try to brave traffic and parking downtown.
“I thought I’d just quickly pop over there and take the SeaBus because it’s the best way to go, rather than go over the bridge,” she said. “If everyone’s taking an alternate way, it’s going be busy.”
West Vancouver Transit’s Blue Bus routes, which are staffed by members of a separate union, remain in operation, providing some mobility on the North Shore, including the 250, which connects Horseshoe Bay to downtown via Ambleside and Dundarave, and the 255 to Capilano University.
While UBC and SFU both moved classes online Monday, CapU advised students that classes and activities on campus will continue as scheduled with normal operating hours.
“We encourage students to look at alternative ways to travel to campus including driving, carpooling, car sharing, cycling or walking,” a statement from the university read. “If needed, contact your instructor to check if there is flexibility for in-person classes at CapU Lonsdale and the North Vancouver main campus.”
According to a 2023 survey by the Capilano Students' Union, 65 per cent of students commute to the North Vancouver campus on transit.
At issue in the labour dispute are wages and workload. Coast Mountain characterized the union’s demand for a 25 per cent wage increase over three years as “unrealistic and unreasonable.” The two sides went to mediation over the weekend but no progress was made to avert the strike.
“With the help of our mediator, CUPE 4500 put in an honest effort to find some common ground with Coast Mountain. But we are still not near where we need to be in addressing our key issues,” said Liam O’Neill, spokesperson for CUPE 4500 in a statement. “For a fair settlement, CUPE 4500 members need wage discrepancies closed between them and other TransLink supervisors, and we need to tackle critical workload issues.”
As of Monday, Killeen said they are hoping to see service resume early Wednesday morning when the 48-hour strike ends, but he added it will be up to the union if they choose to escalate the strike further.
Killeen said the employer’s last offer included higher overtime rates, stronger benefits and a commitment to hire more transit supervisors.
“We’d love to be back at the bargaining table. We just would like the union to come back as well with realistic expectations, and stop the escalation of the job action,” he said. “The impact has been on the 300,000 people who use the bus and SeaBus every day to get to work, to get to school, to get to wherever they have to go. It’s unfortunate that they are across the middle of it.”
