Cowichan Valley Transit workers voted against a deal on Monday that would have seen an end to the nine-week long strike in the region.
"The strike will continue," said Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle on behalf of the union.
"We were in mediation last week, we had a rally...and then we tried our best to reach a tentative agreement, which we did, and brought it back to our members on Monday and they overwhelmingly rejected it," McGarrigle said.
The strike, now more than 75 days long, has affected thousands of members of the community who relied on the service to move about town.
McGarrigle said it's "very clear" that closing the pay gap between drivers in Cowichan Valley and the drivers 35 minutes down the road in Greater Victoria wasn't there.
"The progress that was made was not enough, as shown by the almost the unanimous workforce vote," he said. "It was almost 100 per cent."
The strike, which began on Feb. 8, involves Unifor Local 114, which represents 44 members in the Cowichan Valley who work as transit operators, cleaners and mechanics, and Unifor Local 333, which represents eight HandyDART operators in the region.
Members have been arguing for pay close to that of their counterparts in Victoria, as well as improved access to washroom facilities, designated breaks and more.
BC Transit officials note they are aware of the recent tentative agreement reached by Unifor Locals 114 and 333 with Transdev Canada in the Cowichan Valley, and the following membership vote not to ratify.
"While our organization is disappointed with this outcome, BC Transit strongly believes in the collective bargaining process and hopes the two sides will reach an agreement soon," BC Transit said.
"BC Transit is continuing to closely monitor the situation and sincerely apologizes to customers for the inconvenience caused by this matter. We understand the frustration felt by customers, and that the job action is difficult for everyone involved in the region."
BC Transit is the Provincial Crown Agency responsible for the delivery of transit services outside of Greater Vancouver but it contracts the services of private operating companies to deliver those services.
"These companies hire and manage their own workforces," said BC Transit. "This labour dispute is between BC Transit鈥檚 contractor 鈥� Transdev Canada 鈥� and their unionized employees, and we will update customers as more information becomes available."
They encourage customers to sign up to receive alerts at . Customers may also follow @BCTransit on X for updates.
