CUPE members at B.C. university vote in favour of strike action

‘Our only option is job action’: President

Members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 4879 have voted 83 per cent in favour of strike action.

The 607 members who work at Thompson Rivers University as filing clerks, janitors, cafeteria aides and research assistants are concerned about job security issues, inflation protection and a reasonable wage increase.

“Our contract expired in 2010,” CUPE 4879 president Lois Rugg said in a press release. “We have met with the employer about a dozen times and we have still made virtually no progress towards a new contract. At this point, we feel our only option is job action.”

Members were denied wage increases in 2010 and 2011 as part of the government’s net-zero mandate.

The approval of the strike vote mandate now allows the union to apply for 72-hour strike notice, which would see members taking job action on campus.

CUPE locals at other B.C. universities have also voted in favour of strike action, including UBC, the University of Victoria and the University of Northern B.C. CUPE Local 3338 at Simon Fraser University is set to hold a strike vote at the end of the month.

Latest stories