NEW WESTMINSTER–CUPE 387 members have ratified a new four-year collective agreement with the City of New Westminster.
“We are pleased to be able to continue providing quality public services to the residents of New Westminster,” says CUPE 387 business agent George Habib. “We set out to achieve a fair and reasonable collective agreement for our members and despite a tough bargaining climate we were able to do that.”
The recent round of collective bargaining marked the first time in many years that the city and the union have conducted negotiations independently.
The new agreement includes wage increases of 1.25 percent in the first year, 1.75 percent in the next two years and 2 percent in the final year of the four-year agreement. The agreement also includes improvements to language and working conditions.
The parties commenced bargaining in spring 2012 and reached a tentative agreement in late July. CUPE 387 ratified the new agreement with 97 percent support earlier this month and City Council and the Police Board approved the contract last night. This is the first CUPE local in the Metro Vancouver area to reach a settlement.
The new agreement is effective from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2015.
CUPE 387 represents approximately 625 municipal workers who provide a wide range of municipal services including road maintenance, sewer and water services, garbage collection, arena and aquatics and administrative services such as accounting and payroll.
