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Pacific Coach Lines workers could strike Saturday

Bargaining continues while company has issued lockout notice
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Pacific Coach Lines workers could go on strike as early as this Saturday, putting in jeopardy the company's bus service between Vancouver and Whistler.

The Canadian Auto Workers Local 114, the union for Pacific Coach Lines workers, issued a news release Tuesday morning stating that it had issued a 72-hour strike notice to Pacific Coach Lines. The union has set a strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2010, meaning if there is no contract by then workers will be on strike.

Talks involving a mediator began Wednesday morning.

"We are seeking a fair agreement for the workers who have made PCL the success it is today," Gavin McGarrigle, national representative for the CAW, said in a news release. "A strike at PCL will likely lead to a complete shutdown of operations in Victoria, Vancouver and Whistler."

The union represents 127 workers, including drivers, mechanics, service staff and ticket agents, who are now seeking a new collective bargaining agreement to address issues such as wages, benefits, pension contributions and job security.

The company responded by issuing a 72-hour lockout notice at 9:33 a.m. Tuesday, meaning that employees can't come to work unless they accept what the company offers them as far as a new contract.

"Both parties have made it clear to one another that the collective bargaining process should continue," Darian Tooley, PCL's director of sales and marketing, said in an interview. "We hope to come to an agreement prior to any labour disruptions and both parties are looking forward to resolving their outstanding issues as quickly as possible."

The last contract expired March 31, 2009.

The workers, however, have more issues than simply wages and job security they hope to discuss with the company during collective bargaining.

McGarrigle said in an interview that workers are concerned that PCL's board of directors runs a non-unionized company called Cantrail Coach Lines in the same markets with the same types of equipment.

He said Cantrail has been helping with overload on the Whistler to Vancouver Airport route and that PCL is effectively "double-breasting" by using a non-union company to do the same work as unionized workers.

"We have a contracting out clause in our collective agreement that stops the company from contracting out as long as they have equipment and drivers," McGarrigle said. "If they run out of equipment and drivers, they can contract out.

"In a case where PCL owns the same company, are they contracting out or are they contracting to themselves?"

Asked how the strike could impact Olympic service, McGarrigle said it could have a major impact.

"I'm told there's 40 to 50 passengers on each bus," he said. "So if you take that capacity out of the system, that's a massive amount of passengers without buses."

Pacific Coach Lines is the only licensed bus transportation company with access to main terminal arrivals at Vancouver International Airport during the Olympics. The company is planning to increase service during the Games. It's expecting to have 26 shuttles a day between Vancouver and Whistler from Feb. 12 and March 1, with the first bus leaving Downtown Vancouver for Whistler at 6:30 a.m. and the last leaving at 11 p.m.

Service from Whistler to Vancouver during the Games will see the first bus leave the village at 3 a.m. and the last leave at 9:30 p.m.

PCL currently runs 25 buses a day between Vancouver and Whistler.

 

Tourism Whistler confident bus service would continue

By Andrew Mitchell

Tourism Whistler's first wish for the New Year is that the labour dispute that threatens Pacific Coach Lines service from the airport and downtown Vancouver to the resort will be averted by the mediated talks that got underway on Wednesday morning.

However, if strike/lockout occurs, Tourism Whistler is confident that service will continue through other means.

"We've been told by PCL that they have their own contingency plans, but we don't know all the details yet," said Dave Clark, manager of visitor services for Tourism Whistler. "We've been assured by PCL that there is some contingency to maintain some service, but obviously we don't know what level at this point.

"There are also private parties that have called us since the initial strike vote saying 'we have the equipment, and we can put it on the road in a moment's notice if we can help service people that might be affected by a service interruption."

While PCL does have an exclusive contract with the Vancouver Airport Authority to provide the bus service, YVR is allowed to licence other carriers to use the airport on a temporary basis if PCL is not able to fulfill its contract.

"YVR benefits by travellers having a seamless experience coming to their facility, and they're not going to hold to any restrictions if they are not for the benefit of their customers," said Clark.

"If you look back to 13 months ago when Perimeter ceased their service out of the airport, and the efforts the airport authority made to ensure a seamless transition for people that were booked on Perimeter, I'm confident they can do the same again.

"It's not the airport portion we're as concerned about as the black eye to the tourism industry, and based on what we've been told there are others willing to step up to the plate and help fill in if PCL workers go on strike."