The City of Kimberley and the United Steelworkers (USW) Local I-405 have now completed 10 days of bargaining and have reached a standstill in the negotiation process.

“The city has applied to the Labour Relations Board for the assistance of a board appointed mediator and are hopeful of reaching a settlement that supports the City of Kimberley’s sustainability goals,” the city noted in a press release.

The USW said bargaining broke off due to the employer’s insistence that the unionized workforce accept concessions as part of any negotiated settlement.

“It’s extremely disappointing,” said Jeff Bromley, lead negotiator for the Steelworkers. “The employer came to the table with a concessionary bargaining stance from the very beginning and thus far we have been unable to completely persuade them to change that stance.

“Our members, the unionized workforce of the City of Kimberley, are not interested in losing negotiated vacation provisions, nor are they interested in any provisions that threaten the wage parity provisions, fair and equitable training and a job evaluation program that’s been in place for over a decade,” continued Bromley.

“The USW Bargaining Committee is left with no choice but to seek a mandate in the form of a strike vote from the unionized workforce. We will be beginning that process over the next week.”

Bromley said it’s expected that dates for the mediation process will be agreed-to over the next week.

“We remain ready to return to the table but any agreement cannot include concessions. We understand and respect that the taxpayers of Kimberley are who we serve but the employer is hell-bent on extracting savings off the backs of our hard-working members and that isn’t acceptable,” he said.

The USW Bargaining Committee is in the process of issuing meeting notices to the membership to take a strike vote. Notices will be going up later today, Bromley reported.

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