Transit workers in the Cowichan Valley have been on strike since February 8th, as their union, Unifor, works to achieve better pay and work conditions.
Since the strike began, Unifor and Transdev, the company the workers are employed by, have been at a stalemate in negotiations.
This weekend, the Victoria Transit Riders Union (VTRU) seeks to join the Cowichan Valley transit workers in a strike action to show their support.
A rally is being held in Duncan on Saturday, August 30th, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., in which VTRU and the union members will be once again demanding a fair end to the dispute that has halted regular bus service in the region for over 200 days.
According to VTRU, this rally also aims to encourage the BC NDP government to end the practice of contracting out transit systems that are meant to be public sector to private companies, such as Transdev.
“No transit system in BC should ever have been contracted out, let alone to a multinational corporation like Transdev,” said Liz Cronin, VTRU organizing committee member.
“Public transit is a critical service and the BC NDP needs to bring all systems into the public realm, make a fair deal with the workers, and get the buses in the Cowichan Valley running again.”
Because there is almost no transit service between Victoria and the Cowichan Valley, VTRU has contracted a bus to bring supporters of this cause to Duncan.
Those who wish to join the rally from Victoria can do so by hopping the chartered bus at 9 a.m., at Working Culture Bakery on Douglas Street. VTRU says that anyone is welcome and the bus will be returning at around 2 p.m.
This bus service strike action has now become the longest in BC history.
VTRU says that the workers and their union’s priorities in negotiations are for safe, clean toilets and wages closer to those of transit workers in Victoria and Nanaimo.
According to Unifor, these demands have been rejected numerous times by Transdev.
“As transit riders we stand with the striking workers, because their dignity and welfare is inseparable from ours,” said Nathan Bird, rally organizer and VTRU organizing committee member.
“Transdev wants to pit us against them, but we want our bus drivers to have full bellies and empty bladders, and not vice versa.”
As a result of Transdev’s refusal to negotiate in good faith, VTRU says that many transit riders in the Cowichan Valley have been forced into car dependency and those with low incomes and mobility-challenges have been left stranded.
The latest development in this strike action is that in early August, Unifor members voted against binding arbitration, stating it would not address the root causes of the dispute.
