The B.C. Labour Relations Board has dismissed the latest complaints by the United Church’s Naramata Centre against its striking employees.
The LRB has ruled against claims by Centre management that its unionized staff is on an illegal strike or that the Canadian Union of Public Employees had bargained in bad faith.
The 34 members of CUPE Local 608 at the Centre have been on strike for more than three months. In late May, the LRB found the Centre guilty of breaching the B.C. Labour Code by using replacement workers to do the work of striking employees.
Mark Hancock, CUPE BC president, said he hopes “the United Church will see these latest LRB rulings as a wake-up call to move on from confrontation to collaboration with its Naramata employees.”
The main issue in the dispute is the Centre’s attempts to contract out local jobs as a cost-cutting measure. Due to the walkout, the Centre cancelled its summer programs this year.