HandyDART transit workers in Metro Vancouver begin strike - Action News
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British Columbia

HandyDART transit workers in Metro Vancouver begin strike

Transit workers that run Metro Vancouver's HandyDART services walked off the job at 5 a.m. PT Tuesday. Most members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724 rejected an offer last weekby the private contractor that operates the service.

Workers represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724 stopped all but essential service at 5 a.m. PT

Rows of small yellow buses are seen parked at a depot.
Rows of HandyDART vehicles parked outside Pacific Central Station in Vancouver on Monday. (Murray Titus/CBC)

Transit workers that run Metro Vancouver's HandyDART services walked off the job on Tuesday morning.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724 said the work stoppage would begin at 5 a.m. PT after most of its membership rejected an offer last weekby Transdev, the private contractor responsible for operating HandyDART.

HandyDART is a door-to-door shared transit service for people with permanent or temporary disabilities.

The union says it will cut services to about 18 per cent of normal levels during the work stoppage, only transporting people who need to be taken to appointments for dialysis, multiple sclerosis and cancer treatment.

A man in a yellow vest helps an elderly woman on a mobility scooter.
HandyDART workers say they want wage parity with other transit workers in the Lower Mainland. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Last week, Transdevtold CBC News it would be unable to meet for further negotiations until Sept. 12, but did not give a reason why.

The union held a rally in Vancouver on Tuesdayto mark the beginning of the strike.

Local 1724 president Joe McCanntold CBC News early Tuesday that picket lines will be starting Wednesday at the Vancouver Depot, the Cloverdale Depot and the Norland Depot.

On Monday, McCanntold CBC News that the union does not want to inconvenience its passengers with a strike, but HandyDART workers were seeking parity with their counterparts in the TransLink and Central Fraser Valley Transit systems.

"We have a hard time understanding why drivers that take care of people with disabilities, or that can't use public transit, are treated differently than people that drive people in conventional transit," McCann said.

Transdev and the union have been negotiating since last November, with the collective agreement expiring in January.

Key issues include high worker turnover, contracting out of services, and use of taxis instead of HandyDART vehicles, according to McCann.

The union said it representsabout 600 HandyDART workers, including drivers, dispatchers, mechanics and schedulers who work in the Metro Vancouver area.

A yellow and white minibus parked on a city street.
A HandyDART bus parked on Hamilton Street in Vancouver on Monday. (Akshay Kulkarni/CBC)

'No strategy'

Transdev, a company based in France, did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News on Monday.

In a previous statement, the company said the final offer rejected by employees last week includeda $1,500 retention bonus in 2025.

"Our priority remains to reach a fair contract that balances the needs of our employees, HandyDART clientsand taxpayers," said Emily Watson, Transdev's senior vice-president for Western Canada.

McCannsaid his members did not feel that offer was fair.

The union president added that Metro Vancouver will see a growing, aging population that needs services like HandyDART, and said there was "no strategy" in allowing those services to be run by for-profit companies.

"It's really a vital service, and I don't know why it's privatized," he said.

With files from Isaac Phan Nay and The Canadian Press