CUPE 116 and UBC reach deal amid labour dispute

CUPE 116 and UBC have reached a preliminary four-year collective agreement, the union announced in a news release today (October 22).

The tentative deal would see unionized workers receive no wage increases in the first two years of the contract and two-percent increases in each of the last two years. A staff pension plan would also be made available to more workers.

CUPE 116 represents workers in a range of areas, including trades, security, gardening, waste management, and others.

Members of the local, who have been without a contract since 2010, recently staged job action including pickets and service withdrawals at the university’s Vancouver campus.

The union and employer still need to ratify the tentative agreement.

Meanwhile, CUPE Local 2278, which represents teaching staff and instructors at UBC, is set to hold a strike vote on Wednesday. CUPE Local 2950, another support-staff union at the university, ratified an agreement last week.