WILDCAT ACTION SHUTS DOWN PUBLIC TRANSIT IN VANCOUVER, CANADA

On Friday, May 4, 2001, illegal picket lines by striking transit workers shut down all public transit in the Canadian city of Vancouver. Since the beginning of April, 3,300 bus drivers and mechanics have been on strike, and the buses have been idle since then. Also, some 200 office and ‘security’ workers for Vancouver’s elevated rapid transit service (“SkyTrain”) have been on strike, even though the SkyTrain system had remained running.

However, Friday morning, wildcat action by members of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) – primarily striking bus drivers and mechanics – shut down the SkyTrain, the WestCoast Express (suburban rail service), a separate suburban bus system (West Vancouver Blue Buses), and the suburban Albion Ferry service.

Company representatives for the affected transit services applied to the Labour Relations Board for an injunction to have the pickets removed. Their applications were successful, and all of the illegally struck services were back in operation either later in the day (Friday) or the following morning. The wildcat picket lines were not sanctioned by the CAW.

Greater Vancouver transit talks have recently ground to a halt and local CAW representative Don McLeod said Coast Mountain (the employer) is acting immature by rejecting the union’s solutions. The CAW brought in both its national president Buzz Hargrove, as well as an efficiency expert to help speed up the talks on the preceding Tuesday (May Day) and reach a resolution to the month-long labour dispute. But there were no signs of progress during the meetings and McLeod accused the employer of using the strike to save money. The transit authority has said it is saving $240,000 (Cdn.) for each day of the strike.

The strike has left many working class and poor people with no means of transportation, causing significant hardship and a number of lost jobs, resulting in animosity rather than solidarity from the working/commuting public towards the strikers. Meanwhile, a fledgling ‘Bus Riders Union’, modeled after the one organized a few years ago in Los Angeles, has done little to support the strike.