Vancouver public transit workers are accusing TransLink of turning a blind eye while its cleaning contractor, Dexterra, commits what they describe as flagrant labor violations. On September 3, SkyTrain maintenance staff gathered outside TransLink’s headquarters, demanding that CEO Kevin Quinn step in and hold Dexterra accountable. They say they’ve had enough of the public agency’s silence.
“[TransLink] can contract out the work, but they cannot contract out the responsibility,” said Lenna McVeety, a cleaner and SEIU Local 2 shop steward who has worked with TransLink for four and a half years, in her speech at the rally.
SkyTrain cleaners have faced unsafe working conditions and abusive management since Dexterra took over in February. Dexterra has reportedly failed to provide workers with proper safety training and cleaning supplies, leaving them to handle harmful substances alone while trains are still running.
Despite the protesters’ calls for intervention, Quinn and TransLink management refused to meet with them, saying TransLink was not “authorized” to speak with them that day.
Harassment and Bullying from Dexterra Management
“My co-workers and I have been raising serious concerns about what has been happening in our workplace: our safety, working alone, workloads, lack of proper supplies and equipment, and how workers are treated when we speak up,” said McVeety. “We asked for help. We asked to be heard. And for months, I felt like nobody wanted to listen.”
McVeety told The North Star that she has faced constant bullying from Dexterra’s management team, to the point that she filed for a restraining order against a supervisor named Khushir.
“I’ve asked for that because she’s harassed me,” she said, describing how Khushir repeatedly belittled and yelled at her and her coworkers. “In the last two rallies, we had one of the management, Manpreet, spy on us. And the very next day, they laid off one of our workers, [Boluwatife ‘Tife’ Shobiye]. They’re not on our side. They’re on each other’s side. Their own side.”
Workplace Safety Violations
TransLink has repeatedly refused to meet with union representatives to discuss the issues, with Quinn claiming Dexterra passed every safety audit. But on June 18, WorkSafeBC released an investigative report confirming workers’ complaints.
WorkSafeBC found seven violations of the Workers Compensation Act, including a lack of procedures to protect workers alone near train tracks, and missing emergency eyewash stations and Hepatitis B vaccinations.
Because there aren’t enough workers, “we have people [injured] from lifting [garbage] bags or being exposed to the blood and things inside that bag,” SEIU Local 2 representative Dallis Van Steinberg told The North Star. Workers “also have traumatic injuries. They see suicides and overdoses, and experience racism.”
McVeety says conditions haven’t improved since WorkSafeBC confirmed the violations.
WorkSafeBC gave Dexterra 30 days to fix the problems. According to Steinberg, the company has shown no evidence of compliance, and WorkSafeBC has now extended the deadline.
Steinberg said TransLink chose Dexterra because the deciding factor was simply to “tick the least expensive box”, despite the contractor’s history of labor abuse and violations that SEIU Local 2 has been raising awareness about.
“We want to see action. We want to see a change in how [TransLink] gives out these contracts, how the workers are included on those bids, their safety, their well-being, and how they’re not used as cattle.”
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