Mayor calls on province to intervene in nearly 5-month-long Vancouver Island transit strike [Video]

The mayor of North Cowichan, B.C., says it is time for the province to step up and help end a months-long transit strike in his region. 

Transit operators with Cowichan Valley Transit walked off the job at the beginning of February in a push for higher wages, as well as washroom breaks and places to take them.

The action has halted all regular bus services and limited HandyDART rides to people with renal dialysis, cancer treatment or multiple sclerosis appointments.

Now, close to five months in, Mayor Rob Douglas says residents are getting frustrated.

“People are really starting to feel the pain.”

Cowichan Valley Transit serves North Cowichan, Duncan, Ladysmith, Lake Cowichan and smaller and more rural communities in the Cowichan Valley — an area about 45 kilometres north of Victoria, along Vancouver Island’s east coast.

It’s run by Transdev, a private French company that is contracted by B.C. Transit to operate 10 public transit systems in B.C. 

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