If an agreement can’t be reached, non-binding recommendations will be made and both sides will have five days to either accept or reject the proposal.
The B.C. government has appointed a special mediator in a bid to resolve the dispute between transit supervisors and Coast Mountain Bus Company that prompted a two-day shutdown of bus services earlier this week.
While both the company and CUPE 4500 have agreed to work with Vince Ready, the union said it will launch a new 72-hour strike if a tentative deal isn’t reached by next week.
“I think the decision to appoint a mediator is an indication that the province is interested in the process and in a quick resolution,” he said Wednesday.
B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains said Ready will work with the bus company and union for six days. If an agreement can’t be reached, he’ll issue non-binding recommendations and both sides will have five days to either accept or reject the proposal.
“With his appointment, the parties have all the tools they need to reach an agreement,” said Bains.
The union said it won’t escalate job action until Ready’s recommendations are received on Feb. 2, but if they don’t have a tentative agreement by midnight, they’ll withdraw service for 72 hours, possibly impacting SkyTrain service if the B.C. Labour Relations Board permits.
Prest said that while the B.C. government’s responsibility for regional transportation is limited to the provincial act that establishes TransLink and funding for major capital projects, politicians are likely keeping a close eye on the situation.
“It’s not surprising this has been a difficult process,” Prest said.
TransLink’s complex governance structure makes it difficult to understand who is responsible for labour negotiations.
Coast Mountain Bus Company is the contract operator of buses in Metro Vancouver, but is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TransLink.
The regional transportation authority’s governance structure includes a board of directors, with up to two directors appointed by the province, as well as the mayors’ council on regional transportation, which is made up of 21 Metro Vancouver mayors, the chief of the Tsawwassen First Nation and the elected representative of Electoral Area A.
The mayors’ council approves 10-year transportation investment plans and long-term strategies.
Metro Vancouver provides input to TransLink on its long-term transportation strategies and 10-year transportation investment plans and advises the mayors’ council on proposed borrowing limit increases in 10-year transportation investment plans.
Chair of the mayors’ council, Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, said he could not speak on matters related to the strike. “The mayors’ council has no jurisdiction or oversight of TransLink’s operations or management,” he said by email in response to an earlier request for comment.
Bus drivers belong to a different union, but members respected the picket lines.
Coast Mountain said in a statement that Ready’s appointment is good news for bus riders.
“We hope the union will not resume any job action while the special mediator is doing his work.”
Ready has already been involved in this dispute and worked with both sides last weekend before talks broke down, setting off the strike action.
The bus company said the union was demanding a 25-per-cent pay rise, while the union said Coast Mountain tried to bully it in the negotiations.
The Labour Relations Board is hearing a complaint from the union on Monday and Tuesday, alleging Coast Mountain unfairly tried to reduce the impact of its job action.
The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade said in a statement that it welcomes Ready’s appointment.
“Mr. Ready’s credentials are well demonstrated, and the appointment conveys the seriousness of the dispute’s economic impact,” said board president Bridgitte Anderson.
With files by The Canadian Press
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
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Yuri Kageyama is on X:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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