– Files from Zachary Barrowcliff, My Cariboo Now
The Cariboo Regional District and the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) failed to reach an agreement yesterday.
In a release, the CRD said both parties were ready to agree on wages, but BCGEU walked away over specific terms they had demanded from the settlement agreement.
The rejected settlement agreement would have seen wages increase by 12.5% over three years, and as a result, the union strongly indicated that strike action would continue.
Chief Administrative Officer, Murray Daly said “I cannot express enough how truly hopeful I was for a resolution today and how exceptionally disappointed I am that talks yet again broke down or that once again the Union approached negotiations with perceivably little interest in meeting us in the middle.”
“Despite significant improvements to our offer for wage increases, the Union has moved its offers in the opposite direction, demanding more than it had asked for at the start of the strike.”
After the CRD’s statement yesterday, BCGEU’s president, Paul Finch responded with a follow up statement.
He said “We pushed for bargaining to resume, and we came to an agreement with the CRD after hours of negotiations, but then at the last minute the CRD reneged on that agreement.”
“We negotiated language into the agreement that would provide picketing workers with protection against discipline for their involvement in bargaining. This is very reasonable and standard post-strike contract language.”
Union members will now be entering their seventh week of strike action.
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