National

B.C. HandyDART workers prepare to strike after rejecting contract offer

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 28 Aug, 2024 01:21 PM

The president of the union local for B.C. HandyDART workers says a withdrawal of the transit service is "imminent" as it prepares to serve a 72-hour strike notice.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724 president Joe McCann says members voted down a final contract offer by employer Transdev Canada by an "overwhelming" margin.

We stand in solidarity with our Local 1724-Vancouver, BC, HandyDART members. #ATUStrongerTogether #canlab pic.twitter.com/BbQPqUOKIL
— ATU, Transit Union (@ATUComm) August 24, 2024

"Burnaby, North Vancouver, Langley City, Langley Township and Maple Ridge have all passed resolutions where they’ve called for HandyDART to be brought in-house under TransLink" https://t.co/lWlgUNaByW #bclab #vanpoli
— Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724 (@atu1724) August 27, 2024

McCann says there's still hope for the union and the employer to reach a deal at the bargaining table, but 83 per cent of members voted down the offer after meetings over the weekend and on Monday.

McCann says HandyDART workers want wage parity with other transit staff in the region, and there's a "big disparity."

He says escalating job action wasn't effectively pressuring the employer, and a full work stoppage would still mean that HandyDART users in need of certain medical treatments would be able to book rides with the door-to-door service.

Employer Transdev Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

McCann says it's unfortunate users will be inconvenienced, but Transdev Canada — a private firm contracted by TransLink to operate the accessible bus service — has indicated that it believes HandyDART workers "don't deserve the same wages as a public company."

He says the union believes the service should be taken out of private hands and no longer operated by a for-profit company because of the expected "tsunami" of riders who will need the service in the long term as demographics change.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Atmospheric river passes in southern B.C., but area rivers still rising

Rainfall warnings across Vancouver Island and the inner south coast have lifted in most areas, but the effects of British Columbia's first atmospheric river of autumn could take a little longer to ease. The B.C. River Forecast Centre posted flood watches across western Vancouver Island and for the Englishman River near Parksville, warning of levels seen only once every 10 years on some waterways.

Atmospheric river passes in southern B.C., but area rivers still rising

Tentative deal ends job action by teaching support staff at Simon Fraser University

Nearly 1,600 members launched job action on Sept. 26 after being without a collective agreement for 19 months, forcing the cancellation of tutorials, labs, lectures, office hours and the marking of assignments. Key issues included wages, class size and pensions for instructors.

Tentative deal ends job action by teaching support staff at Simon Fraser University

Overdose homicide in Nanaimo

Mounties in Nanaimo say they're investigating the fatal drug overdose of a woman back in March that they now believe was a homicide. The Nanaimo R-C-M-P says its serious crime unit is looking into the death of 52-year-old Wendy Head, who was found dead at a home in the city on March 7th.

Overdose homicide in Nanaimo

Escalating theft and violence aside, London Drugs not considering closures: president

London Drugs president Clint Mahlman says the company has no plans to close stores due to escalating violence and theft, though the issue has reached a "crisis point" for Canadian retailers. Mahlman says the company was disappointed to learn that a Vancouver city councillor said on social media that London Drugs was considering closing one of its main stores in the city, at the intersection of Granville and Georgia streets, due to crime.

Escalating theft and violence aside, London Drugs not considering closures: president

Funding for BC hospitals

Hospitals in Merrit, Oliver and Salmon Arm will get 7.5-million-dollars in permanent funding from the province to help stabilize physician emergency-room coverage. Health Minister Adrian Dix says challenges like worker recruitment and retention and the ongoing toxic-drug crisis are more prominent in rural and remote communities.

Funding for BC hospitals

IHIT officer testifies to executing DNA warrant of man accused in B.C. murder trial

Sgt-Maj. Heather Lew told a B.C. Supreme Court murder trial that she collected a few drops of blood from Ibrahim Ali's finger on Sept. 9, 2018, two days after his arrest and almost 14 months after the girl's body was found. Ali has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of the teen.