Kelowna Regional Transit Workers Set Strike Deadline for October 5
Union frustrated by contractor First Transit’s refusal to fix the city’s broken transit system and bargain
in good faith
KELOWNA, BC, September 29th – Frustrated by Kelowna Regional Transit System contractor First Transit Canada’s refusal to fix the city’s broken transit system and bargain in good faith, workers declared today a strike deadline of October 5th for a full work stoppage throughout the central Okanagan region.
In an effort to put pressure on First Transit without abandoning their riders, the members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1722 have engaged in six weeks of escalating job actions including an overtime ban, which has stalled service by approximately 20-30% over the past three weeks. First Transit has not responded to the union’s invitation to resume bargaining since the job actions began.
“They don’t seem to care if Kelowna loses the transit service we are all paying for,” said Local 1722 President Al Peressini today. “Our employers are not members of this community, and the fact that we have not heard a word from them in all this time, speaks volumes about their priorities. We have been clear with the public, the municipalities and the province that we will not continue to pay the price for an underfunded, broken transit system, and they have not even given this community the respect of continuing to bargain with us.”
Three weeks ago, the Union sent a full counter proposal to First Transit Canada, which is owned by the Swedish Private Equity Firm EQT, which posts Billions of dollars in profit every year.
“We don’t know where they are, or what they are thinking.” Peressini continued, referring to First Transit. “I guess their priorities are not in Kelowna or with the public service that they have been entrusted to run. We need the city councils and the province to step in at this point. If they won’t answer to us, perhaps they will answer to the governments that pay them tax dollars to run this bus system. First Transit has left us with no other option, but to go on strike. We want to give ample warning to those who rely on public transit, to start preparing for a complete work stoppage.”
The approximately 30% of routes and busses being cancelled on a daily basis due to the Union’s overtime ban is a direct result of how understaffed and underfunded the transit system is and is one of the main reasons that the union is taking strike action. The Union is encouraging the public to reach out to elected officials and ask them to take action to hold First Transit accountable.
“Our Union only uses a full strike as a last resort since we don’t want to abandon our riders who depend on us,” said ATU International President John Costa. “But First Transit refuses to come to the table to address our concerns. Our members have the full support of our members across Canada and the U.S.. We want to fix this broken transit system, once and for all and ensure our frontline hero members are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
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Media Contact: Darrah Teitel 613-867-5864
