Following a weekend of bargaining between the two parties, at an all-day session Monday between the full committees in Kimberley, the USW Bargaining Committee for the unionized staff reached a tentative agreement with the City of Kimberley.
The exhaustive session, which began Saturday evening and ended on Monday afternoon, had both bargaining committees for the City of Kimberley and United Steelworkers 1-405 soften their positions to reach a tentative agreement.
The lockout, which was to have taken effect on Sunday afternoon, had been extended until Tuesday morning while negotiations recommenced. The lockout has been further extended until next week, giving both sides time to ratify the contract.
"This has been a very difficult set of negotiations for both our members and the committee," said Jeff Bromley, lead negotiator for the USW Local 1-405. "We believe this is a compromise for both parties and one we can bring to our members for ratification with the support of the committee."
"I am thrilled that the City was able to reach a new collective agreement with our 91 unionized employees and avoid a lockout," stated Chief Administrative Officer Scott Sommerville. "Together we were able to achieve council's goal of long-term financial sustainability, and balance that with an agreement that is fair to our employees."
Details of the memorandum of the agreement will be made available to our members later this week. Details of the agreement will not be made public until after the ratification meeting next week.
The ratification meeting will take place at Centennial Hall in Kimberley, Tuesday, September 6, 2016 beginning at 5:45 p.m..