SkyTrain workers and their employer, BC Rapid Transit Company, reached a preliminary agreement The agreement itself came earlier this month, after an overnight bargaining meeting that lasted into the early hours of the morning and narrowly avoided a complete three-day closure of the Expo and Millennium lines. “It`s been a very long night for me and the rest of our crew behind me,” CUPE 7000 President Tony Rebelo said Tuesday morning. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement.” Canada Line, whose workers are employed by another union, was not affected by either labour dispute. The union`s current contractual agreement expires on December 31. The preliminary agreement has yet to be ratified by union members and Rebelo said details of the deal would not be released at this time. Ratification was completed this afternoon after four days of electronic voting. “This ratification concludes a very difficult round of negotiations and reflects the strong mandate our negotiating committee has received from members,” said Tony Rebelo, President of CUPE 7000. “We could not have reached this agreement without the commitment of the members of the commission whose determination remained firm in difficult circumstances.” After the union representing SkyTrain`s 900 employees reached an agreement earlier this month with bc Rapid Transit Company (BCRTC), ratification of the new agreement was reached after four days of electronic voting. “We`re going to go back up and stop singing the deal, and we`ll have some well-deserved sleep,” he said, adding that after several hours of negotiations, he felt good but tired.

In addition to the annual wage increase, the union said the new agreement includes “several improvements to improve accessibility and pay equity in the various professions represented by SkyTrain employees.” Dec. 10 followed another exhausting strike vote by Metro Vancouver bus drivers and maintenance workers. This strike was also averted at the eleventh hour, when the bus and coach workers` union and the employer agreed on a contract in the early morning hours of 27 November. The threat of a SkyTrain stop came just days after a potential bus and seabus strike was averted at Metro Vancouver. Union Bus and SeaBus workers last week ratified an agreement with the Coast Mountain Bus Company, after reaching a provisional agreement in late November in an eleven-hour deal as well. Details of the preliminary agreement will not be released until both sides ratify it, but CUPE 7000 president Tony Rebelo said the eleven-hour deal has a long way to dispel many of the union`s concerns in this latest round of bargaining. “We could not have reached this agreement without the commitment of the members of the commission, whose determination has remained firm in difficult circumstances,” Rebelo said in a statement. The official ratification of the agreement comes after a provisional agreement was reached at the last minute, on December 10 at around 5:00 a.m., avoiding a total closure of a few minutes. BURNABY, BEFORE CHRIST, NO.

22. DEC. 1, 2019 /CNW/ – CUPE 7000 members have ratified the union`s preliminary agreement with the BC Rapid Transit Company (SkyTrain). The agreement was reached at the end of a negotiated negotiation meeting on the night of December 10, with a total closure of the Expo and Millennium lines by the minute. . . .