UNBC support staff obtain tentative deal

UNBC support staff have reached a tentative agreement in their labour dispute with the province.

Caroline Sewell, president of CUPE Local 3799, said the deal was struck late Tuesday afternoon after weeks of negotiations with the Public Sector Employers' Council (PSEC).

Sewell would not reveal what was contained in the proposed collective agreement until it has been presented to CUPE members on Wednesday, but said the package was similar to bargains struck Tuesday for support staff at UBC and Thompson Rivers University. Those deals resulted in two per cent wage increases in each of the next two years, after two years under the province's net zero mandate.

The 345 CUPE members -- UNBC's campus security staff, food service workers, tradespeople, parking attendants and student housing employee -- have been working without a contract since June 2010. They walked off their jobs in a half-day show of solidarity Oct. 4, joining CUPE members at UBC, UBC-Okanagan, UVic, Thompson Rivers University, and Royal Roads University.

See Thursday's Citizen for more