OTTAWA, Ontario — Some 500 drivers for the Blue Line Taxi company, members of Unifor Local 1688, have been on strike here since Sept. 19. They voted to walk out by 94%.
Many striking drivers joined an Oct. 1 solidarity rally for postal workers outside Parliament here. The postal workers are on strike against the government’s moves to end home delivery and slash jobs in much of rural Canada.
The Militant spoke with Local 1688 President Bahdon Issa on the picket line outside the company’s head office. He said a majority of the drivers are owner-operators, while others rent from the company. The key issue in the strike is bosses’ demand for a 38% increase in dispatch fees the drivers have to pay.
In addition the percentage they pay for using the company’s credit card machines to collect fares is going from 3.5% to 5% for each transaction.
“When you start up in the morning, the first $100 you make goes to the company for fees and expenses. The monthly expenses to drive are about $2,000. All we are left with are the crumbs,” Issa said.
The company’s owner, Coventry Connections, told the union the proposed dispatch fee increase is “fair, modest, and essential,” given it has not kept up with inflation for over a decade.
The strikers still go to area airports due to contractual obligations. They are the only ones allowed to drive disabled passengers. “Our fight is with the company, not with the public,” Issa said.
They’re winning a lot of support as drivers honk as they go by the picket line. Contracts for other unionized taxi drivers in Ottawa will be up next year.