The long transit strike in the Cowichan Valley is having drastic impacts on both staff and bus users, the board at the Cowichan Valley Regional District heard at its meeting on July 23.
Three transit workers spoke to the board as a delegation, and bus driver Michelle Sretts said many who rely on the buses for transportation have shared some shocking stories with the workers at the many demonstrations that have been held since the strike began on Feb. 8.
She said before the labour dispute, a woman from Honeymoon Bay named April, who has a husband who can’t drive due to health issues and children, several of whom have special needs, would almost daily take the connector bus into Lake Cowichan and then transfer to another bus to get to Duncan.
Sretts said now the woman has to hitchhike to get around.
“She does this alone and she considers it unsafe, especially as a First Nations woman, but she has no choice,” she said. “The last time I met her, she was crying due to having to move her and her family from her home because of this strike.”
Sretts said another example is Chris from Crofton who uses transit seven days a week to get to work in Duncan and for his leisure activities on the weekends in Chemainus.
“Fortunately, he has had the ability to rely on co-workers and friends for car pooling, but sometimes he has had to walk and, to me, that’s quite a walk from Chemainus and Crofton to Duncan," she said.
"This transit strike has been an utter disaster. It has been so terrible for much of our community and has been a financial catastrophe to many of our union members."
The strike in the Cowichan Valley is now the longest one in B.C.’s history.
The strikers, who are members of the Unifor union, have been arguing with their employer Transdev Canada for pay close to that of their counterparts in Victoria, as well as improved access to washroom facilities, designated breaks and more.
The 52 striking workers rejected the recommendations of the province’s mediator to end the labour dispute on July 6.
Bus driver Doug Drummond said binding arbitration ordered by the Minister of Labour is expected next.
He said the workers’ pay has not kept up with the increased cost of living, and that the gap in differences in pay with other jurisdictions has been allowed to increase over the years and is now substantial.
“HandyDart drivers want to be paid the same as conventional drivers; the main Duncan terminus does not have acceptable washrooms available; and rest times have been shortened in our job,” Drummond said.
“The provincial mediator didn’t use fair comparisons in the recommendations for rates of pay. Drivers handle a lot of stress in their jobs, but this long strike has hurt in the pocketbook and has taken its toll mentally.”
Sean Portiti, the lead operational hand at the Cowichan transit system, said the system has been shown to be a broken model of outsourcing local work to private for-profit management companies and needs to be fixed.
“If the outstanding issues are not addressed at the root cause, it will put the Cowichan Valley at risk of repeated and continuous job action,” he said.
Portiti suggested one way to end the strike would be to utilize the same means as were used to end the transit strike in Whistler and Squamish in 2023, the previous longest transit strike in the province.
“Vince Ready, an independent mediator, was appointed by the province to bring an end to the strike at any cost,” he said. “After weighing a number of factors, he ruled that after a graduation period of six years, all drivers would reach parity and maintain the same rate as the Victoria transit system. This recommendation was accepted by the members and the strike ended, and I feel such a recommendation would also be accepted here.”
Portiti also suggested that the successful models that Victoria and Nanaimo use to run their systems could be adopted for the Cowichan Valley.
CVRD board chair Kate Segall acknowledged that the strike is having a huge impact in the region, particularly for the more vulnerable populations like seniors, youth, and those with disabilities.
“We are really hoping for a resolution and advocating where we can,” she said. “We really value the work that you provide to our community.”
