District of Sechelt employees voted almost unanimously Monday, March 15 to strike, though the union has not yet given official strike notice to the District.
"It was a resounding vote in favour of a strike," said Judy Steele, chair of the bargaining unit, which represents all the District's parks, public works and office staff, excluding management. "It was 97 per cent."
Steele hesitated to comment about the union's reasons for voting to strike prior to an official notice of strike being given to the District, but said that a denied wage increase was one of the issues.
"That's part of it," she said. "There's probably a lot more to it than that."
Given the margin of the vote, she said, the question is not "if" to strike.
"It's a question of when," she said. "Our next process will be to set essential services and we'll do that through the labour board."
District assistant corporate officer Margi Nicholas confirmed that the District has been in discussions to renew a collective agreement with the union, but did not comment further on the situation.
