Living off of less than $300 a week for more than three months has been financially difficult for many of the striking transit workers in the Cowichan Valley, many of whom have mortgages, car payments and many other bills to pay.
But a group of about 20 of the workers who were picketing in front of the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s headquarters on Ingram Street in Duncan on May 22 said they have no intention of backing down in the fight with their employer, Transdev Canada.
William Tucker said little is happening currently in negotiations between Transdev, which contracts transit services in the Cowichan Valley from BC Transit, and Unifor, which represents 52 transit workers in the Valley.
Unifor spokeswoman Jenny Yuen confirmed that, as of May 22, there has been no further movement from either side to end the strike, which began Feb. 8.
“We’re just waiting for arbitration to be imposed," Tucker said. “The union has asked the company to go to non-binding arbitration, but the company said it is not ready to do that, so it looks like we’re not close to getting this thing resolved yet.”
Volker Nann said a mediator was named to try to end the labour dispute, but nothing was resolved.
“The mediator was completely on our side, but the company wasn’t listening,” he said.
“We are at an impasse so we’re just waiting for arbitration. We hope the company comes around, but I suspect we’ll still be on strike a couple of months from now.”
Union members have been arguing for pay close to that of their counterparts in Victoria, as well as improved access to washroom facilities, designated breaks and more.
A tentative agreement was reached between the union and Transdev in April, but the workers overwhelmingly rejected it because the wage gap between them and transit workers in Victoria in the agreement was deemed unacceptable.
Tucker said Unifor members and other unions are planning to hold a rally at the Legislature in Victoria on May 28 in an effort to get the province involved in ending the strike.
