I am a transit driver in the Cowichan Valley. People have been without public transit, including handyDart, for 150 days as of July 9. On Sunday, July 6, union members of Unifor 114 (conventional) and 333 (handyDart) voted 85 per cent and 100 per cent respectively to reject a report and non-binding recommendations from a mediator with the Labour Relations Board of B.C.
To be perfectly clear, this letter is my personal opinion and not an official Unifor communique.
The system began 30-plus years ago and has served the population well. It has grown in size and there is demand for it to expand further. In fact, the lobby group Best Transit has said that in rural areas 40 per cent of the population has need at some time for public transit. Transit workers have consistently been undervalued, deprived of pensions and had poorer working conditions than workers in other areas in B.C. where local or provincial governments fully manage the systems.
Workers have not had a single labour dispute until this one. Wage gaps for similar work have been increasing and like most workers post-COVID, we find affordability to be a major issue. Increases related to the rate of inflation have not kept up. The membership has become radicalized during this dispute. We are fed up with worsening service levels (i.e. cancelled runs) pre-strike and the hurt and disruption this lengthy strike has caused.
The three players in the provision of public transit in the Cowichan Valley are B.C. Transit, Cowichan Valley Regional District and private contractor, Transdev. All undervalue the workforce and are to be shamed for the lengthy interruption of this necessary public service.
The model of organization for transit in the Valley does not work. Since 1979, many transit systems in B.C. have had private contractors to manage labour. These private companies suppress wages and benefits and don't make working conditions better (i.e. lack of washrooms issue).
Why can't these private companies realize that if you pay workers decently, better their working conditions and show caring to workers and passengers, that recruiting would be easier (very poor now), runs would not have to be cancelled and service could expand?
Could it be that be that maximizing profit is getting in the way? In the Cowichan Valley profits for "managing labour" go to Transdev, a global conglomerate based in France.
As the responsible provider, the Cowichan Valley Regional District has got to demand an end to this strike and begin planning for the takeover of the labour component of what could be a well functioning and necessary public service.
Here's hoping that I can see you climb aboard a bus and safely take you to your destination soon.
Doug R. Drummond
Lake Cowichan
