The City of Kamloops says it has begun negotiations with its public sector unions on new contracts.
That includes CUPE Local 900, which represents municipal workers, and the IAFF Local 913, which represents firefighters.
Corporate Services Director David Hallinan says its too early to know when those negotiations will end.
“The dialogue has begun and the results will be determined at a future point in time,” Hallinan said. “We’re back and forth and still having a number of meetings with them, and having those conversations. It’s still fairly early in that process though.”
The IAFF contract expired in 2021, while the CUPE contract expired at the end of December.
Contracts with the National Police Federation – which represents RCMP officers also expired last year – but those negotiations are handled by the NPF and the Treasury Board of Canada at a federal level.
Hallinan previously told Radio NL that much of the proposed tax increase in Kamloops this year – about $10.2 million or 7.61 per cent – is due to contracted or economic impacts. That includes employee wages and benefits, RCMP and BC Transit contracts, system maintenance, and the City’s fleet of vehicles.
“We are seeing some really big numbers coming forward in terms of the contracted services portion that the City relies on to deliver some services,” Hallinan said, in November.
“What we are seeing I guess for lack of a better term is sort of the inflationary hangover. And so doing some environmental scanning and market scanning, what we’re seeing is a lot of the contract negotiations are looking to catch up to what happened over the course of 2023.”
Hallinan also said negotiations with CUPE Local 900 over restructuring of the bylaws department to the Community Services Officers program is separate from contract negotiations with other municipal employees.
“That is separate from the contract negotiations, yes,” Hallinan said.
Arbitrator Andrew Sims ruled that the two sides will need to negotiate a solution to things like lost wages, scheduling, hours of work, and language around probationary periods. He also said the two sides need to also come to a resolution about the issue of bumping rights.
The City appealed that ruling, which was dismissed by the BC Labour Relations Board earlier this year.
