Negotiations with a mediator were scheduled to continue Wednesday evening in hopes of reaching a new contract between striking librarians and the Vancouver Island Regional Library.
Pickets were up Wednesday at the Nanaimo Harbourfront branch with its upstairs Creativity Commons branch, at the Sidney-North Saanich branch and at the Campbell River branch.
This is the third week of rotating strikes by the B.C. General Employees Union, which represents nearly 50 librarians working for the Vancouver Island Regional Library.
The main issue is wages.
The contract between the union and employer expired in December 2020.
Talks with a mediator initially broke off but resumed on Tuesday evening.
The employer did not make an offer at that meeting, the union said.
“We’re ready and waiting to receive a fair and respectful offer and will continue job action, and our call on the VIRL board to authorize a new wage mandate, until we do,” the union said in a statement.
David Carson, spokesperson for the library system, said it looks forward to “advancing the discussion towards a hopeful resolution.”
The system operates 39 branches in a large area of the province. It covers Sooke to Sidney and north to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. It includes coastal B.C. and Haida Gwaii.
