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Richmond city workers support striking

The union and employer are starting mediation in early May.
RichmondCityHallStock
Richmond city hall.

Unionized workers with the City of Richmond voted Wednesday to consider strike action in their ongoing labour dispute with the city.

The two unions, CUPE Local 394 that represents outside workers and Local 718 that represents inside workers held the strike vote on Wednesday, April 10.

While the two unions didn’t publicize the vote, the Richmond News understands the vote was overwhelmingly in favour of strike action.

In a joint statement, the unions said mediation is scheduled for early May.

“Both locals are committed to doing everything we can to reach an agreement without any disruption to services,” the statement read.

They plan to give a further update on bargaining after the May mediation.

In March, the two unions said they had reached an “impasse” in negotiations and were planning to head into mediation.

In order to strike, a union needs to issue a 72-hour strike notice after which they can go on strike with three days notice to the employer.

The collective agreements expired on Dec. 31.

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