Mediation aimed at resolving Metro Vancouver accessible transit strike underway

HandyDART transit system vehicles are seen parked at a yard in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, September 5, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

One long-time user of Metro Vancouver's HandyDART transit service said she hopes the mediated talks that began Sunday can bring about the end of a work stoppage that has halted most service for the past six days.

About 600 employees of the door-to-door service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since Tuesday, bringing an end to all service with the exception of some essential medical trips.

Lynn Johnston said she relies on HandyDART for most of her transportation needs, including attending wound care appointments at Burnaby General Hospital.

She said she's been taking conventional transit to make those appointments and said navigating multiple buses and the SkyTrain in her wheelchair has been a nightmare.

The fight between the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724 and employer Transdev Canada centres mostly around pay, with the union arguing its members don't make as much as others working similar roles elsewhere in Canada.

In a statement issued before the strike started, Transdev said its final offer, which was rejected by employees, represented a 19.2 per cent pay increase by January 2026.

Union local president Joe McCann has said low wages make it difficult to attract and retain employees.

Johnston said she felt immediate disappointment upon learning of the strike, but found the trips she took since the stoppage took effect fell well short of her already low expectations.

Taking a wheelchair on regular transit systems has been a “horrible experience,” said Johnston, recalling a recent occasion when her wheelchair got stuck in the SkyTrain doorway.

“I had to get out of my chair and rely on the kindness of strangers to get my chair unstuck and loaded onto the train without it taking off without me," Johnston said in a written interview.

“It was a humiliating and painful experience but at least I was physically able to get out of my car and get loaded without the need to delay the train and wait for SkyTrain staff to arrive.”

HandyDART rides provide travellers in her circumstances with smoother and less painful options, she said. She said her heart goes out to the many customers who have been left stranded at home by the strike, but stressed she fully supports the workers in their fight.

“It has been my experience that HandyDART as an organization doesn’t seem to care much about the vulnerable status of its clients … and so I am not at all surprised to hear drivers talk about how little the company cares about them," she said. "I see how hard they work and how much they care and how worried they are about their work being contracted out to Hospital Transfer vehicles or taxis.”

Johnston described the HandyDART drivers she has known as wonderful, pleasant and professional, adding she feels they genuinely care for their clients.

A 2022 performance review of HandyDART says the service provided more than 960,000 trips that year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2024.