If you rely on transit to get around, there are warnings about looming job action affecting Metro Vancouver’s buses.
One of the unions representing Coast Mountain Bus Company workers issued 72 hour strike notice Wednesday morning, setting up possible job action to start at 8 a.m. Saturday.
CUPE Local 4500, which represents about 180 supervisors, says that will be in the form of an overtime ban affecting operations across Coast Mountain.
Coast Mountain Bus Company President Michael McDaniel tells CityNews he doesn’t anticipate impacts on service at this point, but the union paints a different picture.
“One of our issues we are trying to have the employer address is staffing problems. There’s an excessive workload issue that can really only be solved by increasing the staffing. You’ll most likely see that by simply removing overtime from the arsenal of how the employer deals with their staffing issues that it will have an effect,” said CUPE 4500 national representative Liam O’Neill.
“We suspect it won’t have a huge effect, but you will definitely notice buses not in service or running late. From the public’s point of view, if they are used to certain buses arriving at a certain time, they’ll probably notice that’s not happening because there will a number of buses that won’t make it to service as a result of this.”
And O’Neill warns job action could escalate if the impasse at the bargaining table continues.
“If the employer refuses to address our key issues, we will have no choice but to progress this to the point where — at some point — we will likely have to reduce services.”
The union is upping the ante after mediated talks broke off Tuesday with no solid plans to return to the bargaining table.
“We had two days scheduled but it was pretty clear at the end of a long day that the employer wasn’t going to be addressing our issues,” O’Neill told CityNews.
“It was basically mutually agreed that there’s no use in meeting anymore. The employer wasn’t going to move and was showing zero flexibility.”
O’Neill says the union is ready to return to the table should the employer “show the same willingness to negotiate that we have.”
McDaniel says Coast Mountain Bus Company has offered CUPE 4500 the same general wage increase that was already agreed to by all other employees.
“This offer is consistent with other public sector settlements in British Columbia. We urge the union to return to the bargaining table to finalize a deal,” said the company president.
The last collective agreement between Coast Mountain Bus Company and CUPE 4500 expired at the end of 2022.
The union says it represents Coast Mountain transit supervisors, maintenance supervisors, service supervisors, tireperson supervisors, TComm supervisors, field service trainers, engineers, and warranty administrators, as well as supervisors for the parts department, body shop, trolley overhead, and fare box staff.
TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.
The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.
The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.
Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
