The Cariboo Regional District has been issued a 72 hour strike notice from the BC General and Service Employees Union (BCGEU).
To avert a strike, the CRD initiated a last offer vote permitted under the BC Labour Relations Code, giving employees a fair opportunity to directly vote on the most recent offer to BCGEU’s bargaining committee.
The CRD said negotiations had been stalled due to disputes over wage increases, even with adjustments made to its offers at the negotiating table.
CRD’s Chief Administrative Officer, Murray Daly says the some services could see some disruptions if the strike goes through.
“I think the most impactful would be the library, so the libraries will be closed on Thursday (May 9th), beginning of the strike action.” says Daly.
“Others that would be impacted would be building permits, and some planning and that. I mean, they will still happen, but obviously we’ll have lower service levels.”
Daly added that there’s around 109 union members with the CRD.
He says the collective agreement expired back in November, with talks beginning in December, and have met three time since then.
The vote will be from 12:00pm on Wednesday, May 8th, to 12:00pm Thursday May 9th, with the strike notice taking affect at 9:53 am that day.
Unionized employees who leave their designated workplaces after 9:53 a.m. on Thursday can’t cross BCGEU’s picket lines, which could impact service delivery for specific departments, particularly building inspection, bylaw enforcement and planning services.
More information can be found on the CRD’s website here.
– with files from Zachary Barrowcliff, My Cariboo Now staff
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