Business owners demand an end to transit dispute
Steven Hui, The Peak

In the midst of angry protests from bus riders, Vancouver business groups have sent a strong message to TransLink to settle the transit dispute soon.

Business owners and managers attending a gathering hosted by the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) demanded that the regional transportation authority accept provincial government mediator Vince Ready's report at their next board meeting.

"We are concerned that members of the business community, as well as seniors, the disabled, students and commuters are experiencing severe hardships since this dispute began," said SPEC President David Cadman, adding that Ready's recommendations were the only reasonable solution to the four-month-old transit strike.

Charles Gauthier, executive director of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA), called the meeting a "pep rally," an opportunity for business leaders to raise their concerns.

"We should all be pressuring all the regional governments to bring this dispute to an end," he said. The association, one of the organisations represented at the meeting, has issued a letter to the provincial government urging it to intervene.

The TransLink board has come under harsh criticism for its perceived lack of action during the strike. On July 3, the City of Coquitlam passed a resolution calling on TransLink to compel the Coast Mountain Bus Company to accept the mediator's report.

Bus company spokesperson George Garrett said that the company understands the impact of the dispute on the business community, seniors, the disabled, and other riders, but noted that the two sides were meeting for the first time in weeks at the urging of the deputy minister of labour. He observed that the provincial government was hinting that it would step in if the company and union couldn't bring a conclusion to the strike themselves.

Paul Bains, vice president of the Canadian Auto Workers union Local 111, warned that the provincial government may force drivers back to work if negotiations fail to reach an agreement soon.

If the government was to interfere, Bains hopes that it would be to compel TransLink to implement Ready's report. If they were to simply legislate the drivers back to work and send them to binding arbitration after a cooling-off period, "then we'll assess the situation when we come to it," he said.

Last Tuesday, frustrated would-be transit riders demonstrated at Vancouver City Hall demanding an end to the strike. Mayor Philip Owen claimed he felt his personal safety was threatened as fed-up protesters stormed the council chambers. Also, last Tuesday the Bionic Bullshit Brigade visited TransLink chair George Puil's Kitsilano home and left him a pile of manure as a present.

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