Bob Mackin
SkyTrain workers have ratified their new agreement with B.C. Rapid Transit Co.
SkyTrain (TransLink)
According to a memo from CUPE 7000, a total 731 ballots were cast by the July 22 noon deadline and 447 members (or 61%) voted yes to the new, five-year deal.
SkyTrain workers will get at least 16.25% more over the life of the agreement, which was reached June 29. The increases begin Sept. 1 with a 6.75% raise.
This follows the April-negotiated contract between Unifor locals 111 and 2200 and Coast Mountain Bus Co. that will see pay rise between 11.25% and 12.5% through March 31, 2026 at TransLink’s bus division.
The CUPE 7000 deal contains a no contracting out clause to protect jobs of existing SkyTrain workers and the formation of a joint committee of three company representatives and three union representatives to discuss “contracting in” work that is currently contracted out.
According to an appendix in the Aug. 31-expiring contract, SkyTrain pay ranges from $29 an hour for a parts driver to $58.41 an hour for an elevator/escalator technician. For administrative workers, $28.08 is the hourly rate for receptionists and administrative support clerks and, on the other end of the scale, $57.18 per hour for a control centre instructor.
The contract also includes higher benefits, more incentives and eight, full-paid individual sick days beginning Jan. 1, 2024.
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