The strike is over.
After five months of picketing, unionized employees at the Kamloops Hudson’s Bay Co. store have reached an agreement with their employer.
The strike began on Dec. 10 after bargaining talks between United Steel Workers (USW) Local 1-417 (the union representing the store’s employees) and HBC broke down. According to the union, the two sides entered into negotiations last July, and talks continued until December when it became clear that the parties were at an impasse over issues such as wage increases.
While it is unclear how much of an annual wage increase union workers originally sought, the union said that HBC’s proposed wage increase was just one percent per year.
In March, the Omega spoke with Jordan Lawrence, financial secretary for USW Local 1-417, who said that the strike wasn’t simply about what union members could gain but also what they could lose.
“Not only were [HBC negotiators] not willing to give any decent amount of raise, they wanted to take away language [in existing agreements]. They wanted to take away things that people had worked 30 years to earn,” Lawrence said. “Not only were [HBC negotiators] not willing to give any decent amount of raise, they wanted to take away language [in existing agreements]. They wanted to take away things that people had worked 30 years to earn,” Lawrence said.
On May 3, as the strike neared the end of its fifth consecutive month, B.C. Minister of Labour Harry Bains stepped in, appointing David Schaub as the special mediator.
The Kamloops HBC, one of only two B.C. locations with a union, employs 44 members, nearly half of whom are TRU students.
The terms of the agreement between HBC and the union have yet to be made publicly available at this time, and neither party has responded to requests for comment.