British Columbia Minister of Labor Jennifer Whiteside says she has appointed veteran labor negotiator Vince Ready to help negotiate a collective agreement with the union representing 911 operators.
Whiteside says she appointed Ready as a “special conciliator” under the province’s labor relations code as 911 call takers represented by CUPE Local 8911 and E-Comm try to reach a new collective agreement.
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Whiteside says Ready’s work began today and will take up to 10 days.
It says that if a solution cannot be reached by then, it can issue “binding recommendations on all outstanding issues”.
Whiteside says she is grateful to Ready for taking on the work, which was required by both sides to reach an agreement.
The union, which represents more than 700 emergency communications workers in BC, issued a 72-hour strike notice after months of unsuccessful talks with E-Comm.
&copies 2026 The Canadian Press
