By Lacey Sheppy
Even though the city and union officials averted a Para Transpo strike early this week, Ottawa’s disabled community says the resolution comes too late to make up for two years of uncertainty.
“We were left out to dry in the cold and the rain,” says Jean Wyatt, vice-president of Disabled and Proud, an advocacy group for people with disabilities.
On Nov. 3, FirstBus Canada, the company that provides drivers to Para Transpo, announced the drivers’ union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279, agreed to binding arbitration and will stop all job action until a collective agreement is reached.
Until that point, Ottawa’s disabled were caught in the middle of a long-running labour dispute, and unsure about where their next ride was coming from.
“These constant disputes are causing the disabled community additional worries over and above our daily concerns and problems,” says Para Transpo user Barby Clement, who says she relies on Para Transpo for 95 per cent of her transportation needs.
Clement worries daily the door-to-door transportation service for people unable to use conventional transit could stop at any time without prior notice.
Para Transpo is responsible for 694,000 passenger trips a year, its Web site says.
A 68-day strike in 2001 stranded more than 10,000 registered Para Transpo users. The union had been in a legal strike position since June this year.
Last Thursday, drivers staged a one-day work-to-rule where all but what the union deemed “essential services” were halted.
“I want someone to explain to me what an essential service is,” says Clement, calling the action a violation of her rights.
“We should be able to come and go as we please without having to justify the importance of our activities,” she adds.
Disabled and Proud president Charles Matthews agrees.
“The union believes that only medical appointments are essential,” says Matthews, “but what about the guy who goes swimming at the Jack Purcell rec centre because it’s good for his well-being? That’s not medically necessary, but it is essential to his health.”
While Clement and Matthews say that even short strikes are unacceptable, the union insists there’s no other way to negotiate effectively.
“We do not wish to disrupt service to our clients, ever, but we have no other means of bringing our issues to the forefront,” says union local president Robert Simpson.
The union is asking FirstBus for a number of concessions, including overtime pay retroactive to Jan. 1, 2003, scheduled meal breaks and an increase in the number of part-time drivers.
Teena Tomlinson is executive director of Disabled Persons Community Resources, a group that offers support services for Ottawa’s disabled community. She says she’s relieved there will be no further job action, but she doesn’t think it will resolve all the riders’ concerns.
She says many drivers often complain about their labour situation while their passengers are a “captive audience.”
“You wouldn’t want to go in to a doctor and hear that his hours are too long because of what he’s doing for you,” she says. “I doubt that the binding arbitration will put a stop to that.”