Job action could be back on the cards today for city of Prince George unionized employees.
Bargaining teams from the city and the Canadian Union of Public Employees locals 1048 and 399 are scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. following a proposal CUPE submitted Sunday.
But unless they feel their employer is ready to play ball, union members are ready to walk out on as early as today, according CUPE 399 president Gary Campbell.
"We're at the point now where the proposal we gave them is bare bones," said Campbell. "It's not zeros, but it's bare bones. And we're being more than reasonable."
Campbell said CUPE's offer is less than what seems to be the standard across other B.C. municipalities that have settled their collective agreements.
"The union, we've bargained our backsides off. We've been in there trying everything, being inventive and all we've got from the employer is 'no,'" said Campbell, adding any gains have merely been parts of the collective agreement the city has tried to remove and then put back in play.
"Their last offer was a joke," Campbell said, citing a proposal that offered a 0.25 per cent raise as a signing bonus, which he said worked out to roughly $150 per employee annually.
As of 7 a.m. Monday, the union informed corporate services director Kathleen Soltis that employees were invoking work-to-rule and an overtime ban. On Saturday, CUPE also issued a 72-hour strike notice to arena facilities, as required in the interim essential services agreement set out by the B.C. Labour Relations Board.
Further essential services discussions were wrapped up at the end of last week, with the labour relations board not expected to make a new ruling for couple of weeks.
Under the interim agreement, all snow clearing operations would continue. Police support services staff are also essential as are a handful of mechanics, technicians, electricians, other equipment operators and payroll employees.
