Mayor calls on province to intervene in nearly 5-month-long Vancouver Island transit strike

Kathryn Marlow · CBC News

· Posted: May 28, 2025 7:11 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

The politician of North Cowichan, B.C., says it is clip for the state to measurement up and assistance extremity a months-long transit onslaught successful his region. 

Transit operators with Cowichan Valley Transit walked disconnected the occupation astatine the opening of February successful a propulsion for higher wages, as good arsenic washroom breaks and places to instrumentality them.

The enactment has halted each regular autobus services and limited HandyDART rides to people with renal dialysis, crab attraction oregon aggregate sclerosis appointments.

Now, adjacent to 5 months in, Mayor Rob Douglas says residents are getting frustrated.

"People are truly starting to consciousness the pain."

Cowichan Valley Transit serves North Cowichan, Duncan, Ladysmith, Lake Cowichan and smaller and much agrarian communities successful the Cowichan Valley — an country astir 45 kilometres northbound of Victoria, on Vancouver Island's eastbound coast.

It's run by Transdev, a backstage French institution that is contracted by B.C. Transit to run 10 nationalist transit systems successful B.C. 

Negotiators for Transdev and Unifor locals 114 and 333 reached a woody backmost successful April, but it was overwhelmingly rejected by national members. 

Employees accidental they privation to shrink the wage spread betwixt transit workers successful the Cowichan Valley and those successful Victoria — which the national says is simply a quality of $6.72 an hour. 

LISTEN | How 1 elder is navigating the transit strike:

Transdev antecedently told CBC News that its extremity successful the negotiations is "finding a solution that supports our employees portion maintaining the semipermanent sustainability of transit services successful the Cowichan Valley."

Douglas said the strike is taking a toll connected his community. He said helium and immoderate of his determination colleagues privation the state to intervene, echoing calls made earlier by the union.

That could mean forcing the parties to spell to arbitration.

Even though the transit strategy is funded publicly, the information that it's operated privately means the labour quality is betwixt the leader (Transdev) and the employees. 

That means some B.C. Transit and the provincial authorities person been reluctant to measurement in. 

B.C. Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside said she understands the onslaught has made beingness hard for radical successful the Cowichan Valley.

She said the Labour Relations Board is providing mediation services to the national and employer, and that she has urged the parties to marque usage of that enactment to find a resolution. 

She's expecting a advancement study from the mediator successful the coming days.

"So we're looking astatine what different possibilities determination are nether the [labour] codification to assistance the parties, erstwhile I've heard backmost from the mediator," Whiteside told CBC News. 

She would not accidental specifically whether she would bid binding arbitration.

LISTEN | Impacts extending to immoderate concern owners:

A spokesperson for B.C. Transit said successful a connection that the bureau "understand[s] the vexation felt by customers, and that the occupation enactment is hard for everyone progressive successful the region."

"Our enactment powerfully believes successful the corporate bargaining process and hopes the 2 sides volition scope an statement soon," the spokesperson said.

Douglas said helium believes successful corporate bargaining, too, but that the onslaught has gone connected excessively long. 

"It's clip for the state to instrumentality connected a bigger relation successful helping resoluteness this," helium said.