The union representing more than 1,500 forestry workers in Northern B.C. is now armed with a strike mandate.
“We had over 1,600 members vote at the ballot box with just over 1,500 of them giving us strong support of a strike mandate, we had 93 percent overall,” explains Brian O’Rourke, President of the United Steelworkers Local 1-2017, before saying the plan now is to get back to the bargaining table.
“During this week here we’ll notify the spokesperson for the Conifer Group and see when we can set up some dates when we can all get back to the table and try to negotiate a fair collective agreement for the members out there.”
The vote follows several rounds of bargaining with the Council of Northern Interior Forest Industry Relations.
These negotiations cover operations in Prince George, Houston, Burns Lake, Fort St. James, Mackenzie and Fort St. John. It also includes Tolko’s operations in Quesnel and Williams Lake, and West Fraser’s planer operation in the Lake City.
– With files from George Henderson, My Cariboo Now
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