British ColumbiaThe district said the lockout affects all unionized workers at public works, municipal hall and some auxiliary offices, but that operations won’t be impacted for recreational facilities, RCMP, bylaw, emergency management and other operations.District says ‘extreme move’ is aimed to pressure union to return to bargaining tableCBC News · Posted: Oct 16, 2025 3:51 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoThe District of Squamish is locking out unionized workers, amid ongoing negotiations and job action. (Google Maps)The District of Squamish is locking out some unionized workers in a growing labour dispute.The district, located about 50 kilometres north of Vancouver, said the lockout of certain facilities was set to begin at 6 a.m. PT Thursday due to a lack of response from CUPE 2269 on the district’s latest offer from Oct. 4.“The extreme move is being undertaken to provide an incentive for the union to return to the bargaining table to reach a deal,” the district said in a statement.It said the lockout affects all unionized workers at public works, municipal hall and some auxiliary offices, but that operations won’t be impacted for recreational facilities, RCMP, bylaw, emergency management and other operations.CUPE 2269 said in a statement that all services provided by its members other than those deemed essential would stop at 6 a.m. in response to the partial lockout, resulting in a district-wide disruption.The last deal between the district and union expired last December, and CUPE 2269 said it has engaged in limited job action since Oct. 2. It represents about 250 district workers. In its lockout statement, the district said unionized employees have been “performing pieces of their job while continuing to receive full pay” since the job action began, and that the district has been leaning on just 68 non-unionized employees to fill in the gaps. It added that some community events have been postponed and “a large list of work” has had to be “de-prioritized” as a result. “We understand that the point of a strike is to make things very difficult for the organization to function without the unionized employees,” Mayor Armand Hurford said in the statement. “At the point at which the union is refusing to bargain, decisive steps need to be taken as this current situation is not sustainable.”Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford, seen here in June, is urging the union to return to the bargaining table. (Emma Djwa/CBC)The district said its latest offer would raise the lowest worker wage to $27.50 an hour plus benefits, and includes a general wage increase of 3.26 per cent in 2025 with 2.99 per cent next year, adding to an 11.5 per cent wage hike since 2022.In its own statement, the union said workers need “a fair deal with competitive wages that address rising costs.” It added that the district’s staff compensation plan for recruitment and retention does not apply to unionized workers.CUPE 2269 slammed the district’s lockout.“This decision shows a lack of leadership,” union president Celeste Bickford said in their statement. “The mayor and council, and senior management, have chosen escalation over resolution. Instead of doing the hard work needed to find a solution, they have chosen to lock out their own workers and indefinitely disrupt the public services that residents depend on every day.”CUPE says its members’ duties for the district include water and wastewater treatment, recreation services, parks and trails maintenance, bylaw and animal control, snow removal, emergency program administration, and administrative and operations support for the RCMP.With files from The Canadian Press
Squamish launching lockout of unionized workers amid labour dispute
