Bus drivers, mechanics, maintenance staff and other workers have voted 89 per cent in favour of a five-year contract with B.C. Transit.
More than 700 union members voted on the contract, which is retroactive to April 2014 and runs until March 2019. All are part of Unifor Local 333.
Both Unifor Local 333 and the B.C. Transit board of directors have ratified the agreement.
Provisions include wage increases, elimination of part-time work, an end to different driver categories and the appointment of a women’s advocate. The company will pay for the advocate’s training and cover time used on advocacy work.
In addition to a 5.5 per cent general wage increase, the agreement includes a $2 per hour “skilled trades adjustment” for workers such as mechanics, machinists and welders, said Local 333 president Ben Williams.
“In the current market, [skilled trades] were actually being underpaid for what the market conditions were for skilled trades,” Williams said.
The average bus driver earns in the range of $50,000 to $55,000 per year.
The provincial government said in a statement that the agreement includes the potential for added increases over the next four years “if the B.C. economy exceeds the annual forecasts set by the Economic Forecast Council.”
Williams called the new women’s advocate position a “positive thing,” and said about 100 of the workers represented by Local 333 are women.
“There’s a lot of different people in the workplace and a lot of different issues that come up,” he said. “Whether it’s personal or work-related, we want to make sure that the women in the workplace have someone they feel comfortable going to and discussing issues with.”
Williams said specific concerns could range from health issues and family matters to working conditions, or even getting a uniform that fits.
“We want to make sure that people are comfortable if they have an issue, and with some of the issues they’re going to feel more comfortable approaching another female.”
He said that having just one driver category is a key element of the contract.
“It gives B.C. Transit flexibility and it also addresses the training and the safety concerns and issues we were having in past rounds of bargaining, making sure that we have a fully trained operator that is able to operate all of the pieces of equipment that B.C. Transit has.”
B.C. Transit spokesman Mike Russell said this is the third union contract the company has signed with its workers in 2015, which strengthens relationships with employees and allows for the provision of “safe, reliable and cost-effective public transportation in the Victoria region.”
With the agreement, a complaint of bad-faith bargaining has been dropped by the union.
