Posts from — December 2009

The month-old labour dispute between HandyDart drivers and MVT, a Translink contractor, is a daily disaster for HandyDart users.

Rest assured that any dispute of a similar length against Coast Mountain Bus or Skytrain would be daily headline news. Not so for HandyDart.

Yet most HandyDart customers are rendered housebound by a transit strike, as this Georgia Straight report makes clear — they have no other way to travel.

This week Vancouver City Council is will debate this motion I have introduced calling for binding arbitration.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, which represents the drivers, has been both for and against binding arbitration, but now says this is the way to get a settlement. MVT president John Siragusa makes the case for a negotiated settlement in today’s Sun.

Either way, a solution is needed now that lays the basis for a long-term improvement in service. Here’s how my old friend and HandyDart regular Sue Martin rated MVT in a recent e-mail:

I know Vancouver city council has no direct say in the HandyDart contract negotiations, but you do have a voice that could be helpful. [Read more →]