Chilliwack bus service suspended Thursday through Saturday due to CUPE 561 job action

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This service disruption will not impact handyDART service, which will remain fully operational in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Mission, B.C. Transit said.

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“B.C. Transit is closely monitoring the situation and sincerely apologizes to customers for the inconvenience caused by this matter. We understand the frustration felt by customers, and that the job action is difficult for everyone involved in the region. We contract the services of private operating companies to deliver these transit services. These companies hire and manage their own workforces. The labour dispute is between B.C. Transit’s contractor – First Transit – and their unionized employees,” B.C. Transit wrote in a statement.

B.C. Transit is the provincial Crown agency responsible for the delivery of transit services outside of Greater Vancouver.

BC Transit will update customers as more information becomes available. It encourages customers to sign up to receive alerts at bctransit.com. Customers may also follow @BCTransit on Twitter for updates.

“We had hoped to reach a fair collective agreement without any disruption in service, but First Transit had other ideas. The company cannot be surprised that we have arrived at this point,” said CUPE 561 President Jane Gibbons, in a previous press release.

“We were clear when this job action began that we wanted to cause as little inconvenience as possible to the riding public. We wanted to give residents ample notice of what might lie ahead if First Transit did not come to the table with a different approach. But the company did not hear that message and simply refuses to recognize its responsibility to bring compensation for these workers in line with that of other transit workers in the region,” Gibbons said.

Gibbons added that fair compensation, including a pension plan, will help create a more sustainable transit system throughout the region. CUPE 561 is encouraging members of the public to visit www.weneedalift.ca and call on their local representatives to urge First Transit to return to the table with a fair offer.