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No end to 48-day transit strike in B.C.’s Sea-to-Sky region as talks break off

More than 80 members of Unifor Local 114 went on strike Jan. 29
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Signs indicating seats which are closed to promote physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic are pictured on a public transit bus in North Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, May 12, 2020.Talks have collapsed between striking transit workers and their employer in the Sea-to-Sky region of B.C., with the two sides unable to agree on wage parity with Metro Vancouver workers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Talks have collapsed between striking transit workers and their employer in the Sea-to-Sky region of B.C., with the two sides unable to agree on eventual wage parity.

Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle says in a statement that progress was being made during two days of negotiations before they ended late Thursday.

McGarrigle says talks broke off when the two private contractors bargaining on behalf of BC Transit rejected eventual wage parity with Metro Vancouver transit operators who make an average of $3 more per hour.

The Unifor statement says no future negotiating dates are scheduled.

More than 80 members of Unifor Local 114 went on strike Jan. 29, suspending BC Transit services in Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton.

The union says two years of bargaining leading up to the strike failed to make headway on demands including job security, benefits, or the wage parity issue.

—The Canadian Press