Anyone who made a reservation at the Coast Inn of the North in Prince George is breathing a sigh of relief as the workers, Coast Hotels and UNITE HERE Local 40 reached a tentative agreement.
This comes after workers at the PG hotel held a demonstration on Wednesday outside the building after a 72-hour lockout notice was issued by the hotel chain.
“At about three o’clock in the morning, we reached a tentative agreement with the company. It is one that our bargaining committee is quite happy with, we can’t release a lot of details until our members have voted on it,” said Octavian Cadabeschi, Spokesperson.
“Our members really wanted to avoid a strike and a lockout so an opportunity to continue working and to get a settlement that they are happy with would make them very happy, which I think we’ll happen but we will see.”
Director of Brand Engagement and Internal Auditor with Coast Hotels Linda Hagen believes both sides shared a common goal during negotiations.
“In these situations, it always does take a little bit of back and forth, everybody was there with the best intentions for the people who work with us and the members of Local 40.”
With the dust now settled, Hagen states they’re glad to get this issue behind them, with Christmas just around the corner.
“The real driving force regardless of what time of year it is, we always want to make sure that we’re doing the right things for the people that work for us, we’ve had a long-standing relationship with Local 40 and we want to make sure as we things move forward that they stay intact.”
The deal also affects workers in Nanaimo and Victoria who also work at Coast locations.
The workers will be voting on the new deal next week and more of the details will be made public once ratified.