Metro Vancouver wastewater workers expand strike action to Surrey with talks stalled

Workers at Metro Vancouver’s wastewater facilities expanded job action to more facilities on Tuesday as negotiations come to a standstill.

Picket lines had gone up on Oct. 16 at all five of the region’s wastewater treatment plants — Annacis Island, Iona Island, Lions Gate, Lulu Island, and Northwest Langley — but were taken down a short time later. Job action has now expanded to see a picket line set up at a facility shared with the City of Surrey, preventing city workers from entering the workplace.

Picket lines briefly came down last week while it seemed like talks were improving.

The employer says the union abruptly walked out of bargaining and set the picket lines back up on Friday.

Greater Vancouver Regional District Employees Union President Jessie Madero says he believes talks have stalled because the district still expects the union to make concessions, adding he feels there has been a problem with follow-through.

“Everything that was talked about, nothing was put in a written proposal,” he said. “That’s been the whole process of Metro Vancouver. They’ll come down and do exploratory discussions and then when it’s time to write pen to paper it’s not what they said.”

Maduro says the root of the issue is that workers’ pay hasn’t kept up with inflation.

“They do not want to address our issues with recruitment and retention … they cannot hire people on the pay structure they’re going [with],” he said.

Metro Vancouver says it’s offered an 11.5 per cent increase over three years along with increasing its offer of retroactive wage increases and other allowances and benefits. The union says it wants to bring pay scales to the levels seen by other workers in the area and it expects job action to continue for the foreseeable future.

“They are still looking to sign a deal with us that does not match what other municipal workers across the region have already negotiated, which identifies the increases in the high cost of living in the Lower Mainland,” Maduro added.

The union has now told workers in its water services departments to refuse standby duties and overtime offered by their employer.