Greyhound Problems Linked to Kamloops Dispatch Closure

January 15, 2013

Greyhound Problems Linked to Kamloops Dispatch Closure

Passengers Stranded Without Explanation Due to Layoff of Greyhound Workers

The Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, local 378 (MoveUP) is calling on Greyhound to re-open its Kamloops Dispatch after dozens of travelers were stranded at the Kamloops Greyhound terminal on Sunday for several hours without receiving an explanation of the problem or expected wait time for another bus.

“Greyhound closed the Kamloops Dispatch last October, and laid off twelve workers,” said COPE Vice President Heather Lee.

“These are the people who were responsible as part of their job for going to talk to passengers and trying to resolve these kinds of issues,” Lee continued, “They may not have been able to fix the buses but they at least would have been able to help passengers know what to expect.”

Lee also pointed to a similar incident in December, when dozens of passengers were stranded in Kamloops overnight just before Christmas Eve and likewise were unable to receive an explanation or expected wait time.

“Each of these incidents happened on a Sunday and that’s not a coincidence,” said Lee, “The fact is with the layoffs they’ve no one working on Sundays to do this job, not even managers. That’s created an unacceptable situation for passengers.”

“Greyhound needs to reinstate these workers and re-open the dispatch so there are people there to do that one-on-one work and make sure passengers get the service they need. Otherwise this type of incident is going to continue,” Lee concluded.

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Media Contact: Jarrah Hodge, jhodge@moveuptogether.ca