(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)
August 01, 2014 - 11:45 AM
KELOWNA – There are no plans for job action just yet as talks between the City of Kelowna and its unionized workers have broken off.
“After five days of mediation we were unable to come to agreement,” a Thursday posting on the CUPE Local 338 website says.
“Talks were progressing but both sides were unable to agree on several key issues.”
The bargaining committee will be meeting to strategize and make a decision on how to proceed, the posting says.
The union says it “will look to continue negotiations with the city” shortly after the strategy meeting.
CUPE informs it’s members that “there are no immediate plans for job action at this time.”
There are about 650 workers with the City of Kelowna represented by the union, according to Carla Weaden with city.
And it is armed with a strike mandate. The workers are 94 per cent in favour of walking off the job in a strike vote taken in May.
At that time, CUPE 388 president Lee Mossman said, “Clearly, the issues at stake are important enough for our members to give an overwhelming strike vote.”
The union has been without a contract since December 2013.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
— This story was corrected at 2:23 p.m., Friday, Aug. 1, 2014 to clarify how many CUPE 338 employees there are and where they work.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014