Unionized workers at the District of Sechelt were back to work Monday morning (July 15) and that evening they accepted a three-year agreement, ending a month-long strike in Sechelt.
B.C. Government Employees Union (BCGEU) communications officer Karen Tankard said employees wanted to return to work before their formal vote to accept the deal as a gesture of good will.
She would not say by what percentage the vote was passed, only that the deal was accepted by the 45 unionized workers in public works, parks, engineering and development services, finance, bylaw enforcement and corporate services.
The three-year-deal expires on Dec. 31, 2015 and comes with a $1,000 signing bonus to be paid within two weeks of ratification.
The deal also offers a wage increase of 1.5 per cent in the second year and 1.75 per cent in the third.
All temporary employees who were laid off when the strike began will be called back to work, Tankard said, noting workers will get to keep their modified work-week schedule until July 1, 2014.
That schedule sees employees work extra time each day in exchange for every second Friday off.
Sechelt council formally ratified the deal in a special council meeting July 17.
At that night's regular council meeting Mayor John Henderson said the District was "overjoyed to have everyone back."
"We're all friends and sometimes friends have disagreements, and the key thing is to find ways to get back to having the strong relationships we have enjoyed in the past," Henderson said. "That sort of thing doesn't happen overnight."
He thanked management for their work to fill in during the strike, saying they did a good job with tax collection and maintenance of the downtown core.
Returning parks and public works staff also focused their efforts on the downtown core this week.
"We put a priority on everything from Acacia Park and the cenotaph to the extremity of the RCMP courthouse building to clean up the downtown core, make it look as presentable as possible," said Sechelt's chief of innovation and growth Ron Buchhorn. "While management personnel did maintain those facilities, we obviously didn't weed. The horsetails were pretty evident."
BCGEU members walked off the job on June 14 saying they wanted higher wages and the ability to keep their modified workweek. They had been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2012.
