CUPE 15 and the Vancouver Art Gallery have reached a tentative agreement at the bargaining table. The Memorandum of Agreement is subject to ratification.
Unionized workers at the gallery had been on strike since last Tuesday, and would return to work pending a positive ratification vote. The vote is set for Monday, February 11.
Details of the agreement will be made available after the tentative contract is ratified.
CUPE 15 applied to the BC Labour Relations Board for the appointment of a mediator on February 8 after more than 200 gallery workers commenced job action February 4. CUPE 15 had bargained for more than eight months and requested a mediator to “help rebuild the relationship between the parties in order to bring about a fair, respectful and negotiated settlement,” said CUPE 15 President Warrant Williams.
CUPE 15 represents more than 7,000 municipal, community social service, education and not-for-profit workers in Vancouver, and is B.C.’s largest CUPE local.