RICHMOND – CUPE employees at Quilchena Golf and Country Club were hopeful that a deal would be reached last week during an evening bargaining session, as only two outstanding issues remained to be discussed.
“We’re literally one sentence away from reaching a deal,” says CUPE National Representative Tom McKenna. “Both parties met last week and we are able to agree to the term of the agreement, which is positive. However, the one issue that is keeping this lockout going deals with when managers can perform CUPE employees’ work. CUPE members are only asking to be able to perform the work they were hired to do, that doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.”
McKenna says that the union remains hopeful that both parties will be able to reach an agreement in the near future and that while no further bargaining dates have been scheduled the union is prepared to return to the table and bargain at any time.
“We want to resolve this dispute; no one wants to be banned from working for 100 days. A settlement is long overdue and CUPE hopes that managers at Quilchena will show their employees the respect they deserve and get them back to work.”
CUPE 4964 represents 19 employees at the Quilchena Golf and Country Club who have been locked out by their employer since February 4.
