City workers in Prince George could walk off the job as soon as 1:09 p.m. on Thursday after providing 72-hour strike notice to the city on Monday.
Members of 91原创 Union of Public Employees locals 399 and 1048 informed the city that they are getting ready for job action if a collective agreement can't be reached soon.
鈥淎fter months of negotiations the city is still refusing to adjust their mandate. This is our last option,鈥� CUPE local 399 president Gary Campbell said in its news release. 鈥淭hroughout this process the city has continuously disrespected front line workers while still being able to find funding for numerous new projects and for hiring new staff."
The two sides have been unable to reach an agreement since negotiations began in January. Workers voted 93 per cent in favour of strike action in September and 82 per cent of union members voted to reject the city's latest offer last month in a vote conducted by the B.C. Labour Relations Board. The city offer called for wage freezes in the first two years of a four-year deal, followed by increases of two per cent in each of the final two years.
Prince George unionized workers have never gone on strike in the past and city operations superintendent Bill Gaal was surprised the union gave its notice on Monday.
"We don't understand why the union wants to go on strike at this time," he said. "The city wants to continue to deliver services to residents, but we will be prepared if they do go on strike."
The two sides met with a B.C. Labour Relations Board adjudicator on Monday as they tried to hammer out which employees qualify as being part of essential services. Those talks are expected to continue on Tuesday, but Gaal said he doesn't know what the schedule is beyond that.
If the city and union can't agree on who qualifies as being part of essential services, the Labour Board could offer a ruling. It's not known how long it would take the adjudicator to issue a decision.
"Before CUPE can go on strike there has to be some sort of essential service agreement in place and [Labour Board] has to decide on that," Gaal said.
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