The City of Prince George is bringing in the Labour Relations Board to try to wrap up bargaining with its unionized employees.
According to Canadian Union of Public Employees local 1048 president Janet Bigelow, the city tabled a final offer Wednesday and has applied to the third party to supervise a vote.
Last offer votes undertaken by the Labour Relations Board are binding and if the vote is in approval, the terms become the new collective agreement.
CUPE locals 1048 and 399, representing inside and outside workers, respectively, have been without a contract since the previous five-year agreement expired at the end of December 2012. The two sides have been negotiating since January.
Bigelow didn't want to comment on the specifics of the city's newest offer. The previous offer from the city was for a three-year deal with no wage increases for the first two years, and a two per cent increase for the final year.
"I don't believe that they needed to go through the labour board to do this. We were willing to do this without the labour board being involved," said Bigelow. "That's an extra cost that the city's going to have to take on, because the labour board doesn't do it for free."
Traditionally, the union handles the votes for their membership, said Bigelow. "We pay for the building that it's held in and we conduct the vote and it's a closed ballot," she said.
While it's not unheard of, going to the labour relations board for a last offer vote isn't common, said board information officer Guy Pocklington, as it's a move an employer can only use once during a particular round of collective bargaining.
The vote is then facilitated by a local industrial relations officer through the ministry responsible for labour.
Last week, the city's unions issued a press release charging that the city was "trying to push CUPE members into a strike."
A vote in September resulted in a strong strike mandate with a 93 per cent vote in favour of job action.
This came on the heels of a city press release saying the municipality had no new money for the first two years of the contract but the employers are "willing to reallocate some existing sick leave accruals and other cost items within the collective agreement in order to better meet priorities for CUPE members."
"They don't seem to have the money for wage increases but they have money to say they approve the process of finding the money for a $42 million [performing arts centre] where the city will have to pay a quarter of that, which is over $10 million," said Bigelow.
