GABRIOLA ISLAND – Fire fighters at the Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department (GVFD) have joined Canada’s largest union in pursuit of fair wages, improved working conditions and increased safety. The certification, which has been approved by the BC Labour Board, covers 29 workers at the GVFD.
“We are very excited to welcome GVFD workers into our Local, and into the broader family of emergency response workers in our National Union,” said Jeff Virtanen, President of CUPE Local 606, the local that will house CUPE’s newest members in British Columbia.
CUPE, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, represents more than 750,000 members across the country, including BC ambulance paramedics, 911 operators, and workers at the North Cowichan Fire Department here in British Columbia.
The next step for GVFD workers is to negotiate a collective agreement that will better define their work, compensation, working conditions, and benefits—providing a venue for workers to seek improvements.
“Communities rely on first responders to deal with all measures of emergencies, and these workers deserve fair compensation, decent working conditions, proper protections and support when they are injured,” said Virtanen. “These workers enter into situations others are running from, and we need to ensure the community has their backs, like they have ours.”
CUPE Local 606 is based in Nanaimo and represents mid-Island workers at the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District, Sources Community Living, and the Nanaimo Association for Community Living.
