Seven hundred CUPE members working for the city of Delta, B.C. have ratified a new three year contract which includes a two per cent wage increase.
The most contentious issue in the dispute involved the work week. The new contract limits the use of the nine-day fortnight by which some workers receive a three-day weekend every two weeks. It prevents employees from getting a four-day weekend by adding their three-day weekend onto a statutory holiday.
CUPE Local 454 president Joe Badali told the media the vote was “clearly not unanimous. We have some very upset people. This was never an issue about money. It was about management’s decision to seek concessions from the union in order to carry out what they termed necessary efficiencies.
“The members upset at the double standard they see, with management retaining all their perks and expenses while demanding concessions from union members,” said Baldi.