The Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, Local 378 (COPE 378) announced Tuesday that more than 1,500 members at 55 claims-related Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) locations will take strike action on Tuesday, Sept.18, including employees at the ICBC Claim Centre in Williams Lake.
Communications representative for COPE 378 Jarrah Hodge, says the office will not be closed. Three of the seven employees at the centre in Williams Lake are deemed essential and will be on the job.
The strike will impact 55 locations across the province.
In a press release issued by the union, COPE 378 president David Black says the employees have been without a contract for more than two years.
“Their wages are falling behind while ICBC executives and business partners got massive salary increases and $1.2 billion of ICBC profits went into government revenues.”
“Striking is never an easy decision,” Black says, “and we sincerely hoped our strike action on Sept. 5, when we co-ordinated with the BCGEU (B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union) and the PEA (Professional Employees Association), would help ICBC focus on reaching a fair and reasonable collective agreement. But ICBC’s attitude hasn’t changed.”