'Angry and frustrated' workers to walk off jobs at major Metro Vancouver destinations
After weeks of escalating job action, the Metro Vancouver Regional District’s unionized outside workers announced they will partake in a full strike on June 15.
The Greater Vancouver Regional District Employees’ Union (GVRDEU) first started job action on May 24, demanding stronger health and safety language in the collective agreement, protections against contracting out bargaining-unit work, and measures to improve recruitment and retention.
GVRDEU represents workers involved in regional services, like drinking water, wastewater systems, parks, ecological reserves, and housing communities across Metro Vancouver.
On Monday, GVRDEU members will walk off their jobs at places like Grouse Mountain, Derby Reach, and Deas Island, at watersheds, water and wastewater treatment plants, infrastructure construction sites, and operations yards.
Members who are designated as essential service workers will remain on the job, as required by the BC Labour Relations Board.
“Our members are angry and frustrated that after 17 months without a contract, Metro Vancouver management continues to ignore the concerns of the frontline workers who deliver important services across the region,” said Jesse Medeiros, president of the GVRDEU.
“Management will not return to bargaining without the union agreeing to preconditions we’ve previously rejected, and that’s capitulation, not negotiation.”
While Metro Vancouver management previously asserted that they were willing to return to the bargaining table with no preconditions, GVREDU said that this was inaccurate.
In a collective bargaining update that GVREDU shared with the media, they said that Metro Vancouver was not prepared to discuss the union’s full list of items and was only offering dates to meet with a mediator. The union said these two caveats are preconditions.
“While the union has characterized mediation as a precondition, we do not,” said Metro Vancouver, in an email to Daily Hive. “We see it as an important and practical step, after almost a year of bargaining, to help both parties make progress and reach an agreement.”
Medeiros said that the union will decide how long the strike will last and the next step in the days ahead.
“GVRDEU members are the frontline workers that keep Metro Vancouver running, and we are sick and tired of management incompetence and disrespect,” Medeiros said.
“We regret the inconvenience to the public and appreciate their support in this dispute, but we can’t wait forever to get a new contract for our members.”