City workers give strike mandate

The city's unionized employees have given their leadership a strong strike mandate.

Last Thursday, members of Canadian Union of Public Employees locals 399 and 1048 voted 93 per cent in favour of job action after rejecting the city's last proposal.

According CUPE 1048 president Janet Bigelow, a final proposal came from the city on Aug. 30. The proposal, which Bigelow didn't want to detail, was brought to the membership Sept. 5 and was rejected by a 95-per-cent vote.

The strike vote was held immediately after.

The union must give 72 hours notice prior to any job action.

"At this point, we're only interested in going back to the table and talking more and coming up with a fair and reasonable offer," said Bigelow.

A strike vote is "business as usual" for the employer and a normal part of negotiations, said city corporate services director Kathleen Soltis.

"Over the years CUPE has taken many strike votes and yet there has never been a strike," Soltis said. "It's used to impress upon the employer their seriousness and it assists in giving them strength at the bargaining table."

Contracts for the city's inside and outside workers expired Dec. 31. This year, the city brought in a Vancouver-based labour lawyer to work on the collective agreement bargaining process. The employees are receiving help from national CUPE representative David Scott. The two sides first exchanged proposals in February.

Soltis said they don't know when there will be a return to the bargaining table. A potential next step is for either the city or the union to request mediation.