The Canadian Labour Relations Board has ruled out a potential strike by CityWest workers.
According to CityWest, the company was informed that members of IBEW local 337 were not in a legal position to strike until an agreement is in place to maintain lifeline services for people in Prince Rupert.
"CityWest provides services that are essential to the safety and health of the public," reads the notice from the CLRB, with CityWest noting that members of the unition "have a duty to make sure essential services, such as 911, are maintained throughout Prince Rupert".
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The union representing all administration, and customer service staff in the CityWest's Prince Rupert office, as well as Telephone technical personnel working out of Prince Rupert, has served its 72 hour strike notice.
The union will begin strike action effective noon on Monday, April 2. CityWest says it was surprised by the move.
"We did not feel that the union would take this extraordinary measure at this point in time," said a statement from the company.
"Strikes create a situation that benefits nobody. The company, the employees, and particularly the customers are all negatively affected. We urge local 337, to allow this deadline to pass without incident, and without taking this extreme step to go on strike and return to the bargaining table in a constructive way."
Should the union proceed with the strike, the company is asking customers to continue calling the usual customer service number and to check www.citywest.ca for updates on the situation.
Look for more on this story as it becomes available