Vancouver to get its garbage picked up

Vancouver to get its garbage picked up

Canadian Press
October 14, 2007

VANCOUVER — Vancouver’s outside workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a tentative deal that will end a strike and bring relief to fed-up residents whose garbage has been piling up for almost three months.

City workers voted 85 per cent to accept the deal and parks workers voted 81 per cent in favour.

CUPE Local 1004 president Mike Jackson says he’s relieved with the settlement but adds the bitterness between workers and the city will take some time to deal with.

He says Vancouverites can look forward to having their garbage picked up starting Monday morning.

The deal covering about 2,000 workers includes a 17.5-per-cent pay hike over five years, a $1,000 signing bonus, improved benefits and the establishment of a joint committee to address the assignment of overtime.

The city’s inside workers had also been on strike but approved a new contract last week. About 800 CUPE members who work at the city’s libraries remain off the job.