VANCOUVER—Bus drivers working full shifts in Metro Vancouver will be guaranteed 45 minutes of break time under the terms of a collective agreement ratified by union members late Thursday evening.

Unifor Locals 111 and 2200 and Coast Mountain Bus Company reached a tentative deal last week, averting a planned three-day system shutdown. Bus drivers and maintenance workers were fighting for wage increases, and for the company to commit to ensuring drivers actually got to take the breaks they were assigned on schedules.

While drivers have always had scheduled break time at the end of their bus routes, they often felt obligated to skip their breaks in order to keep the route running on time, the union had said. Now they can claim a 200 per cent overtime rate for missed break minutes, according to the union’s Dec. 5 bargaining update.

Drivers and skilled trades workers will also get wage increases, including a two per cent increase, retroactive to April 1 2019.

Approval of the deal marks the end of a transit dispute that lasted for more than one month.

Unifor western regional director Gavin McGarrigle says transit workers should be very proud of what they accomplished.

“Our members took collective action to reach this deal but public outreach and support was critical to getting the employer to understand the broad support for our contract proposals,” he said in a release.

Michael McDaniel, president of Coast Mountain Bus Company, said in a statement that the vote ends a “challenging period for the company, our employees, and customers.”

Job action started on Nov. 1, when mechanics refused to work overtime. The dispute escalated with transit operators refusing overtime after talks collapsed Nov. 14. Then, Unifor turned up the heat, warning of a complete shutdown if a deal could not be reached.

Transit officials said at the time that 350,000 people used the bus and SeaBus system every day in Metro Vancouver. It warned a full strike could cause chaos during the morning and afternoon commutes.

Before the deal was reached, Unifor complained that an offer from Coast Mountain Bus Company, the operator of bus and SeaBus services, wasn’t comparable to salaries in other major cities.

Kevin Desmond, CEO of TransLink, the authority responsible for the entire transportation network in Metro Vancouver, countered that the wage offer was based on market conditions.

Coast Mountain said an early offer in November included guaranteed recovery time for drivers and a wage increase of about $6,100 over the next four years, amounting to an annual salary of $69,000.

Under that proposal, the annual wage for skilled-trades workers at the company would have gone up by about $10,000 over four years, bringing their yearly earnings to $88,000.

This isn’t the only labour dispute that has threatened to stall commuters in Metro Vancouver.

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Mediation talks began Nov. 25 between the union representing 900 SkyTrain workers and TransLink’s BC Rapid Transit Company.

The CUPE 7000 members voted in favour of strike action if a contract can’t be reached.

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