Dear Members,

We are writing to provide an update on correspondence exchanged this week with Mr. Ravi Chhina, the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (Deputy CAO) at Metro Vancouver, regarding the Employer’s recent statements to the media and to GVRDEU members about the current round of negotiations.

Metro Vancouver has publicly stated that the Employer is not seeking concessions in its proposal and that no preconditions have been placed on the GVRDEU before Metro Vancouver’s committee will return to the bargaining table. Those statements are knowingly inaccurate. The Union wants to ensure members have factual and precise information.

Clarity point No. 1

• When the Union last met with the Employer at the bargaining table on April 13, 2026, the Employer’s settlement proposal included a demand to an expansion of hours worked by Watershed Protection Patrollers at the Capilano Watershed. This is clearly a concession!
• After the Union provided its counterproposal, the Employer declared an impasse within 20 minutes.

Clarity point No. 2

• On April 14, the Union notified the Employer that the Union remains ready and available when the Employer is prepared to engage in collective bargaining without restrictions.
• The following day, the Employer advised the Union that unless the Union was prepared to substantially reduce its list of outstanding items, they would not change their position on its wholesale rejection of the demands sought by the membership.
• In addition, the Employer has filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the BC Labour Relations Board, that the Union is limited to only three proposals.
• On April 28, the Union responded that the Employer’s position “only agreeing to bargain if the GVRDEU first met Metro Vancouver’s preconditions”. The Union advised that meeting under those preconditions would serve no useful purpose. Members must comprehend, that is not collective bargaining!

Clarity point No. 3

• On Monday, June 8, the Union sent correspondence to Metro Vancouver’s CAO’s office to correct any miscommunication provided to the CAO and to clearly establish the Union’s position on where negotiations ended.
• The Union again confirmed that we are prepared to return to the bargaining table with NO preconditions and to bargain the issues that have been repeatedly sought by the membership in the past without success. These were prepared for bargaining and confirmed by the membership, as important and crucial for the Union which include:
  • health and safety;
  • contracting out work; and
  • recruitment and retention issues

• Within a few hours, Metro Vancouver’s CAO’s office replied and advised that the Employer is not prepared to continue discussing and negotiating the Union membership’s full list of important outstanding items. The Employer has only offered dates to meet if the support of a mediator is present at the bargaining table. These two caveats are, once again, preconditions.

The GVRDEU bargaining committee will not capitulate to Metro Vancouver’s preconditions or stop seeking collective agreement language that protects workers’ rights to:

• work in a safe working environment;
• ensure a sustainable workforce is in place to provide the critical infrastructure services the Metro Vancouver public expects from its regional government; and
• stop the waste of public funds on contractor use for services Metro Vancouver has historically provided in-house.

We call on Metro Vancouver Board members to govern this corporation appropriately, as they have been mandated to do by the public. They must direct Metro Vancouver management back to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair and amicable deal for workers at Metro Vancouver.

In solidarity,

GVRDEU Bargaining Committee