Local News
UBC, SFU may have plans for transit strike
Many across Metro Vancouver are eagerly awaiting to hear if CUPE 4500, the union representing Coast Mountain Bus Company transit supervisors, is going to walk off the job early Monday morning.
In the meantime, both the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Simon Fraser University (SFU) have been working on alternate plans for students if a strike does happen, as some locations of these schools are difficult to get to without transit.
“Many students, faculty and staff rely on public transit, and we appreciate a potential disruption be challenging,” UBC said Sunday afternoon.
UBC’s campus will not shut down in the event of a strike, it says, but students should check with their instructors to see if other arrangements are being made. This could include having classes move online or “providing content asynchronously.”
The school says employees who perform necessary work are expected to report to work.
UBC says it will post a status update by 6 a.m. Monday.
SFU says it has similar plans, with some instructors intending to move online or run asynchronously, in the event of a strike. Some classes may need to be cancelled. Students are asked to check with their instructors.
“We recognize that the majority of our students rely on transit, and a shutdown of this magnitude will have a large impact,” SFU said.
SFU also says extra parking would be made available on their Burnaby and Surrey campuses.
If a strike is averted, classes will run as scheduled.