Unionized Kelowna transit workers approve strike vote

Photo: BC Transit

Unionized employees of Kelowna's regional transit system have voted 97 per cent in favour of job action if needed.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1722 has been negotiating with First Transit Canada since February 2022 after their contract expired in March 2022.

“Wages and benefits are so low that the company cannot retain or recruit qualified workers. An underfunded transit system means poor service for riders and poor conditions for workers. Service routes are being suspended and routes are being cancelled daily,” said Al Peressini, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1722.

“Community members who rely on HandyDart transportation are requesting rides and being rejected because we don’t have enough staff. We are overworked, and fed up with a private company that squeezes millions of dollars of profit out of tax-payer-funded public transit.”

The public transit system in the Central Okanagan is contracted out by BC Transit to First Transit, which is owned by Swedish hedge fund EQT.

“First Transit doesn’t care about their riders and workers. All it cares about is making a profit on the backs of its employees," said ATU International president John Costa.

"The result is a transit system that isn’t working, riders being stranded, and a city suffering. It’s time for First Transit to come to the table and give our members the fair and just contract that they deserve.”

The ATU notes Metro Kelowna is the fastest-growing urban centre in Canada and has an incredibly high cost of living. There is a well-publicized shortage of drivers for the local transit system.

"First Transit is offering wages that amount to an economic rollback, unsafe, exhausting work schedules," said the union, in a news release.

While members have now approved job action, a strike cannot occur until the union serves 72-hour strike notice, which has not occurred.

Transit workers in Kelowna last went on strike in 2016.