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After 15 weeks and stalled negotiations, Unifor held a rally in front of the British Columbia legislature in Victoria on May 28 to demand accountability from the regional transit authority—BC Transit—and the provincial government.
“Why are we here now at the B.C. legislature? It’s because of the silence of this government,” Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle told the members and supporters gathered at the rally. “This government has a mandate to provide good public services and to build up our critical infrastructure, including public transit.”
The company refuses to address the wage gap between the transit workers in the Cowichan Valley and workers in other public transit systems on Vancouver Island, such as in Victoria or Nanaimo.
The B.C. government campaigned last fall on a promise to begin a review of private transit delivery but has largely remained silent, he added. However, both the municipality and BC Transit are also responsible for the lengthy dispute. McGarrigle said the province has seen four transit disputes in two years, with more than 400 combined days of lost transit services in these communities.
“But the sad truth here is that BC Transit is a failed Crown corporation,” said McGarrigle. “It has failed the communities it has been created to serve, and it has failed the workers who provide the service that our citizens so desperately need.”
Local 114 unit chair Shaun Bhoondpaul thanked supporters for joining his members at the legislature and made a powerful demand for fairness in his rural community: “We are not worth less. Our ridership is not worth less in the Cowichan Valley. We demand accountability from BC Transit!”
Following the rally, a delegation of Unifor members on strike joined McGarrigle at two meetings with the provincial government. In a meeting with representatives from the premier’s office, Local 114 and 333-BC members shared stories of members struggling financially and community members who rely heavily on public transit and whose lives have been severely disrupted by Transdev’s refusal to close the wage gap and secure a new collective agreement.
Later in the afternoon, Unifor representatives met with B.C. Minister of Labour Jennifer Whiteside and her staff. McGarrigle discussed the employer’s intransigence and the need for the government to review private service delivery (as promised) with an eye to minimize the role of for-profit multinationals such as Transdev. In the short term, he said the 110-day long dispute could be resolved if the government, together with BC Transit, took a more active role in finding solutions, such as mediation.
Unifor members from Locals 114 (transit operators and mechanics) and 333-BC (accessible transit vehicle operators) began strike action on February 8.
