B. C. Bus Drivers' Job Action

It is not often these days that you hear folks speak up in favour of Unions and or in support of job actions taken by unionized workers to change or improve the terms and conditions under which they work. So it was a pleasant surprise to come across this article by Shannon Corregan in the Times Colonist supporting workers' job action during the ongoing negotiations between B.C. Transit and the Canadian Auto Workers Local 333. According to Corregan the City of Victoria bus drivers have now completed their third week of driving uniform-free and she thinks it's great way for making sure that every person that gets on the bus knows what the issues are in the contract negotiations.

Job actions such as these are very important and necessary if workers want to be treated fairly. Strikes are a major inconvenience to the public and so far, the bus drivers of Victoria have been doing their best to avoid a strike while publicizing their unhappiness with what CAW says is an unfair situation. The refusal to wear uniforms "is a nonaggressive, non-confrontational way of voicing their dissatisfaction" in Corregan's words. 

And job actions such as these are a way of reminding the bus-going public that the drivers want to be doing their jobs. This is important in a service industry such as transportation where all too often, strikers lose public sympathy simply because strikes are an inconvenience for the rest of us. With the weather set to get a lot worse as winter approaches, losing public support is more of a danger if CAW does decide to strike.

In many cities across the country local municipalities have seen attempts to have transit services declared an essential service in order to prevent strikes from happening, or to place strict limits on the right to strike. And people don't take an interest in the issues involved until their services are cut, and at that point they take a narrow view of the situation focusing solely on the inconvenience the strike has caused them. Corregan makes the following point that;

 "But it's precisely because our transit system is so crucial to so many that we should support our drivers' right to strike if they must. Strikes suck, it's true, but we strike to keep our industries fair and our systems sustainable, so that they can enrich our communities. We need to pay our drivers a proper wage, and give them proper benefits, and listen to them when they have concerns about the integrity of their work - as is the case here, as CAW and B.C. Transit fight over the level of training and qualifications required for drivers to operate our newly commissioned buses."

So when workers engage in job actions, such as not wearing uniforms, "It provides a visual reminder of what's going on, without interrupting service to those who need it. It gives our drivers a form of protest that does not inconvenience the community they serve." And it sends an important message to the public about the larger issues involved and why they need to see beyond the question of their own personal inconvenience that a strike might cause. go to link>>>