NORTH VANCOUVER – After 7 months on the picket line CUPE 389 says that the North Shore Winter Club (NSWC) has no desire to end the longest ongoing labour dispute in the province.
Mediation talks took place Monday Dec 2 but CUPE National Representative John Strohmaier said that the NSWC came back to negotiations with their most insulting offer yet.
“The union was cautiously optimistic that we would be able to reach an agreement this week and we are disappointed that the NSWC has decided to continue this senseless lockout,” says Strohmaier. “We trimmed our package down considerably and were ready to negotiate a fair and reasonable settlement. With the package they presented the NSWC made it clear that they didn’t have those same intentions.”
Strohmaier says the club insists on slashing the unionized workforce in half and contracting out the work performed by the employees who will be terminated.
“The North Shore Winter Club is offering less and less to employees who have been locked out for 7 months. We were hopeful that the new board of directors elected in September would seek a resolution to this dispute. Unfortunately this board is just as aggressive and hostile to its employees.”
