The University of British Columbia Walter C. Koerner Library.Martin Dee/UBC Public Affairs
A tentative agreement has been reached between the University of British Columbia and its 1,500 clerical, library and hospital staff, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
The proposed four-year contract was reached Wednesday, despite the increasingly tense atmosphere between various CUPE locals at B.C.'s five largest universities.
Officials with Local 2950 are recommending acceptance, saying they are not "ecstatic" about the pact, which includes a four-per-cent raise over the last two years of the agreement.
CUPE members launched job action this week at UBC, Simon Fraser University, the University of Victoria, University of Northern B.C. and Thompson Rivers University, seeking improved job security, inflation protection and a wage hike.
Talks continue at UVic and with a separate local at UBC, but workers have launched an overtime ban at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops as they wait for negotiations to resume next week.
Bargaining continues next week with CUPE Local 3799 at UNBC, but talks have broken off between SFU and its support staff.