School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) (SD8) is actively engaged in bargaining with CUPE Local 748 to negotiate a renewed collective agreement under the Province’s Shared Recovery Mandate.

The union advised SD8 that CUPE members will take a strike vote. A strike vote is not a strike notice. This does not mean that CUPE staff will be going on strike.

“Once the vote is complete, the results are valid for 90 days. If CUPE members do want to strike within those 90 days, they would need to issue us with 72-hour strike notice. The parties have made progress at the bargaining table. While we have not yet reached an agreement, we are hopeful that an agreement will be reached,” said SD8 Superintendent Trish Smillie.

A mediator has been appointed by the British Columbia Labour Relations Board (LRB). Both parties attending mediation is a typical process in bargaining, which supports the parties to reach an agreement with the assistance of a neutral third party. SD8 believes that an agreement can be reached through mediation.

The deadline to finalize mediation is February 22, 2023. The deadline to finalize ratification of the mediated agreement is March 15, 2023.