BURST
The union representing Metro Vancouver outdoor workers is asking hikers to avoid the Grouse Grind Monday as the popular North Shore hiking trail will be behind a picket line.
Members of the Greater Vancouver Regional District Employees’ Union escalated job action to the Grouse Grind and four other facilities in Metro Vancouver as their strike enters its third week.
“Union members’ jobs affected include park operators and assistants, patrollers and other Grouse Mountain Regional Park workers who fix the trails, remove garbage and keep them is top condition — that won’t be happening on Monday,” said union president Jesse Medeiros in a statement on Monday.
The Grouse Grind and Grouse Mountain Regional Park will be operated by a limited number of management staff performing work they do not normally carry out, Medeiros said. Park rangers, who patrol the parks and are members of the GVRDEU, are expected to respect picket lines. Parking may also be affected.
“Our members will not stop anyone from using the Grind or parks, but we advise the public to be extra careful and consider doing the Grind or visiting the parks on another day when our members have returned to work,” he said.
Picket lines are also going up at Deas Island Regional Park in Delta and the Derby Reach Regional Park in Langley Township. Unionized operations staff at the Lions Gate Wastewater Treatment Plant are also off the job.
Medeiros said the union is staffing positions deemed essential “but it means most or all of our members will be off the job and services will definitely be impacted.”
The latest job action comes as Metro Vancouver and the union have not returned to the bargaining table following an impasse. Previous job action have temporarily affected some of the region’s water filtration and treatment plants and other facilities.
The union says sticking points include worker safety, contracting out of bargaining-unit work, and recruitment and retention.
Medeiros said the union was also frustrated with the regional authority’s “expensive blunders” that have cost taxpayers. This includes the North Shore wastewater treatment plant, where costs have ballooned from $700 million to $3.86 billion. The project has been pushed back by a decade and more than $800,000 in WorkSafeBC fines have been levied for violations of safety regulations in the last few years.
“These expensive and dangerous mistakes are coming at the expense of front line workers who deliver needed services,” he said.
No talks are scheduled between the parties. The union is calling on municipal politicians that make up Metro Vancouver’s board to order management back to the bargaining table without preconditions in order to avert a full-scale strike.
The GVRDEU represents about 600 Metro Vancouver workers, along with 150 contract workers, who operate and maintain regional services including water, sewer, infrastructure, and parks.