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Deal at the 11th hour

A marathon bargaining session between the City of Kimberley and its unionized workers has ended with a new tentative agreement.

The two sides announced Monday night they had reached a deal and the 80 municipal staff represented by the United Steelworkers of America will not be locked out. The lockout had been scheduled for Tuesday morning if a settlement could not be reached.

The 11th-hour talks began Saturday night and continued until Monday afternoon, when the deal was reached. The lockout threatened by the city has been postponed for one week, a formality to allow both sides time to ratify the agreement.

“I am thrilled that the city was able to reach a new collective agreement with our 91 unionized employees and avoid a lockout,” said chief administrative officer Scott Sommerville.  “Together we were able to achieve council’s goal of long-term financial sustainability, and balance that with an agreement that is fair to our employees.”

The two sides negotiated for months, but could not reach a deal on sticking points like wage increases, grandfathered vacation benefits or a job evaluation system. Late last week the province appointed Grant McArthur of the BC Labour Relations Board to try to see if a labour disruption could be avoided.

The details of the agreement will not be released until after ratification. Workers will vote on the tentative agreement on Sept. 6.

“This has been a very difficult set of negotiations for both our members and the committee,” said Jeff Bromley, lead negotiator for the USW Local 1-405. “We believe this is a compromise for both parties and one we can bring to our members for ratification with the support of the committee.”



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