Another transit strike is possibly looming as a B.C. union has voted to take job action “if necessary.”
ATU Local 1724 Metro Vancouver HandyDART drivers, maintenance workers, road supervisors, trainers and officers workers have overwhelmingly voted in favour of a strike.
The union said that after eight months of bargaining with Transdev and working six months under an expired contract, 95 per of HandyDART workers voted in favour of escalating job action on July 3.
“Our more than 600 bus operators, trainers, supervisors, office workers, and maintenance workers are fed up with Transdev,” said Mark Beeching, ATU Local 1724’s president.
“Contracting out HandyDART service has led to years of poor working conditions, unfair compensation and spiraling service that has been unable to meet demand.
“It’s time to save our broken HandyDART system.”
The union said Transdev, a French multinational corporation, has been contracted by TransLink to operate HandyDART since 2018.
There has been criticism in recent years regarding the use of taxis in place of HandyDART services.
Back in September 2023, more than a hundred HandyDART riders, family members and caretakers voiced their concerns with the “surge” in TransLink’s use of private taxis to complete rides.
They attended a virtual town hall with the Amalgamated Transit Union — the largest labour union representing transit and allied workers in Canada.
A B.C. mother, Viviane Schmidt Mumm, shared her “horrendous experience” regarding her non-verbal daughter and a taxi after the daughter was not escorted to her front door.
“She got lost for hours and it ended up in a full-on police dog, helicopter search,” Schmidt Mumm said. “She could have been anywhere. She ended up walking across a highway, and she is not safe in traffic.”
Eric Doherty, a transportation planner and researcher who presented at the town hall, reported that the use of taxis at HandyDART surged to 17 per cent in 2022.
The continued use of taxis has led to six different Metro Vancouver mayors, who sit on TransLink’s Mayors’ Council, to sign an open letter calling for the service to be brought in-house, according to the union.
City councils in North Vancouver, Langley, Burnaby, Langley Township and Maple Ridge have also passed resolutions calling for HandyDART to be insourced directly under TransLink as well.
The union said the bargaining has primarily been focus on protections against the use of taxis as fill ins, but it is also working for better wages.
It said Coast Mountain workers make 30 per cent more than HandyDART workers, which is leading to a high turnover in staff.
“Our members are devoted to this work and to their riders, who depend on them. However, they can’t even afford to live in the Metro Vancouver area they serve,” ATU International president John Costa said.
“This strike vote shows they are strong and united, and will know what is necessary to get a fair and just contract.”
On July 3, union members are expected to stop wearing uniforms and plan to escalate job action further “shortly after.”
If Metro Vancouver HandyDART workers go on strike, it will be the third major transit strike by Transdev workers in B.C. over the last two years.
Workers in Kelowna walked off the job for a day in 2022 and Fraser Valley BC Transit workers went on strike for 124 days last year.
Global News has reached out to Transdev for comment.
