The provincial government is urging both parties in the almost four-month-long Cowichan Valley transit dispute to hammer out a deal at the bargaining table.
In a statement sent to the Times Colonist, Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside said she is strongly encouraging both sides to work with some urgency to resolve the dispute so transit services can be restored as soon as possible.
“The situation has been especially difficult for people living in the Cowichan Valley who rely on public transit,” Whiteside said. “We know that the best agreements are found at the table, and we will do what we can to support the parties in that regard.”
If the parties can’t resolve the dispute on their own, Whiteside said, the province is “looking at additional tools” to help resolve it.
Unionized transit workers in the Cowichan Valley have been on strike since Feb. 8. Unifor, the union that represents the workers – eight handyDART operators who are members of Local 333 and 44 operators, cleaners and mechanics who are members of Local 114 — said talks are at a standstill, with the two sides at an impasse over wages.
“Our members are frustrated,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s western regional director. “There’s been no movement to resolve the key remaining issue, which is the wage gap between places like Victoria and Duncan.”
The current rate for an operator in Duncan is $31.24 an hour, while in Victoria, it’s $37.96.
Whiteside said the province is already providing mediation services through the Labour Relations Board.
The Canadian arm of Transdev, a French transit company, provides bus services in the Cowichan Valley under contract with B.C. Transit.
Frédéric Bourgeois-LeBlanc, communications manager with Transdev, said the company remains fully engaged in dialogue with both the mediator and union representatives, and is focused on reaching a positive outcome.
“Our team looks forward to resuming transit services for the Cowichan Valley community as soon as possible,” he said. “We sincerely thank local passengers and the entire Cowichan Valley community for their incredible patience and understanding as the process continues.”
Unifor held a rally Wednesday at the B.C. legislature, saying it wanted to draw the province’s attention to the problem with contracting out transit services to private companies like Transdev.
McGarrigle said the reason there has been no movement on the wage-gap issue is likely down to the fact there is no pressure on Transdev. “They’re not accountable to the public,” he said.
He noted the body that is accountable — B.C. Transit — puts out statements saying how sorry they are about the lack of service, yet they are the ones that negotiated the Transdev contract and provided the equipment.
“But somehow it’s not their fault. The point of [Wednesday’s] rally was really to bring attention to the fact that these workers are fighting for some pretty basic treatment, that public transit should be delivered by public transit workers,” McGarrigle said.
The union met with the labour minister and staff from the premier’s office after Wednesday’s rally and McGarrigle said he believes the message got through to them.
He said the union is asking the province to review how B.C. Transit operates and “press the point that B.C. Transit needs to do better, the contractor needs to do better and hopefully we can get this thing resolved.”
B.C. Transit told the Times Colonist it is closely monitoring the situation and will update customers as more information becomes available. The transit operator also apologized for any inconvenience.
“Our organization strongly believes in the collective bargaining process and hopes the two sides will reach an agreement soon,” B.C. Transit said in a statement. “We understand the frustration felt by customers, and that the job action is difficult for everyone involved in the region.”
B.C. Transit has contracts with 18 companies across the province to provide transit services.
Those companies, like Transdev, hire and manage their own staff, and operate fixed-route, community and handyDART services in the communities they serve.
