NORTH VANCOUVER – Sixteen CUPE 389 members who work at the North Shore Winter Club (NSWC) were locked out Friday morning by the club’s management.
“Friday morning CUPE employees were told to hand over their keys and leave the building. We are extremely disappointed that management has chosen to prevent the qualified, professional CUPE employees who work at the North Shore Winter Club from maintaining the building and ice rink,” says CUPE 389 president Cindy McQueen. “Collective bargaining works when both parties are genuinely interested in reaching a fair and reasonable agreement. However, managers at the North Shore Winter Club don’t seem to be interested in that, if they were they would have engaged in more than four days of bargaining before locking out their own employees.”
CUPE employees at the NSWC rejected management’s final offer last week, which included zero wage increases, proposed cuts to sick time and vacation time as well as language which could result in possible reductions to CUPE employee’s work hours.
“We heard reports from patrons using the facilities that the ice rink has not been up to standards and that three washrooms had to be closed due to cleanliness issues. It’s clear that CUPE employees need to be inside doing the work they are trained and qualified to do. CUPE 389 is prepared to continue negotiations with management so we can avoid further disruptions to services and so patrons can enjoy the standards of service they expect,” says McQueen.
CUPE 389 represents 16 employees at the NSWC who maintain and care for the facilities at the club.
