Civic Centre Workers Have Been Locked Out

Corner Brook, NL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Workers from the Corner Brook Civic Centre, represented by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 4386, are now locked out without notice after a deal was not reached in their final conciliation meeting with city representatives this morning.

“I’m disappointed, simple as that. They showed up with essentially the same offer they’ve had for months but with some numbers moved around,” explained CUPE 4386 President Craig Gardner. “We even lowered our proposal in hopes of getting a deal, but they refused to move and have now locked us out.”

As an impasse was reached on October 10^th and a strike vote was held at the same time, CUPE 4386 could have gone on strike immediately. Instead, they committed to continuing to work while waiting for an additional bargaining date. Today, despite reaching no deal, civic centre workers remained on the job so they could shut down equipment safely but were met with a lock out instead.

“It was clear when they cancelled events and pulled the ice up last week that they weren’t coming to negotiate,” said CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador President Sherry Hillier, who attended the final conciliation meeting in person. “We still hoped they would come to us in good faith as we planned to do but showing up with essentially the same deal shows that was never their intention.”

“This is the last thing we wanted but we hope that all those affected—the kids who worked so hard for the try outs and practices they’re now going to miss, the people who spent countless hours planning events that are now going to be cancelled—will stand with us as we fight for better,” finished Gardner.

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