Metro Vancouver regional parks workers walk off the job, warn strike could be next: union

A gondola is seen on Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver, B.C. on Thursday, July, 12, 2012. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)

Unionized workers who operate Metro Vancouver Regional Parks escalated job action on Sunday, walking off the job in hopes of working towards a new collective agreement, according to the union.

A spokesperson for the Greater Vancouver Regional District Employees’ Union made the announcement Sunday morning, explaining that more than 700 workers would be walking off the job “indefinitely” as of 7:45 a.m.

GVRDEU workers operate in 25 parks, including Grouse Mountain and Capilano Regional Parks in North Vancouver, Boundary Bay Regional Park in Delta, and Pacific Spirit Park in Vancouver, among others. The union said its members’ daily tasks and park upkeep include but aren’t limited to the fixing of trails, garbage collection, and providing first aid for pedestrian injuries.

Metro Vancouver spokesperson Jillian Glover told CTV News that all 25 parks will remain open through union action, with essential services maintained.

“Residents will not see changes in the essential services Metro Vancouver provides every day such as drinking water, wastewater treatment, solid waste management, air quality monitoring, housing, and access to regional parks,” she said, in a statement.

Union president Jesse Medeiros said the GVRDEU is taking this stance 18 months after its previous collective bargaining agreement expired, adding “a full-scale indefinite strike is possible” if the union doesn’t see “significant movement” toward a new deal.

“We do not want to inconvenience the public, but we cannot continue to work without a new contract and we urge them to tell their mayors and councillors to direct Metro Vancouver management to drop concessions and pre-conditions and negotiate a fair new agreement,” he said, in a release.

Metro Vancouver said it remains committed to reaching a “fair and reasonable agreement.”

“Our offer includes a wage increase of more than 10 per cent over three years, which is consistent with other recently negotiated agreements in the region, including with our Teamsters union, and exceeds several other public sector employers,” Glover said, in a statement.

In June, Metro Vancouver pointed to mediated negotiations as a likely solution, but sessions mediated by the BC Labour Relations Board didn’t resolve the dispute, according to the union, who added that its tentative meeting with Metro Vancouver management is “up in the air now because little progress has been made to date.”

“Metro Vancouver management has continued to insist on the union accepting contract issues that have already been rejected at the table and is also demanding concessions from the union that it will not consider,” said Medeiros.

The union said it looks to improve health and safety protection and further retention and recruitment of skilled workers in negotiations, while addressing the contracting of non-union work.

The union already conducted a single-day strike on June 15.

In the meantime, the GVRDEU said 15 workers will remain on the job, as they have been deemed an essential service by the Labour Relations Board.