A new contract that will see Coquitlam's unionized city workers' wages go up 6.75% over four years was ratified by council this month.
Council approved the memorandum of agreement with CUPE Local 386 that is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2012, when the last settlement ended. The breakdown of yearly raises is as follows:
Jan. 1, 2012: 1.25%;
Jan. 1, 2013: 1.75%;
Jan. 1, 2014: 1.75%;
Jan. 1, 2015: 2%.
The salary hikes will also apply to city management staff.
Last month, as reported in The Tri-City News, more than 90% of the 900-plus unionized workers voted in favour of the new contract.
Coquitlam was among the last municipalities in Metro Vancouver to sign on to a new deal with its local. The salary increase is on par with the rest of the region, including Port Coquitlam (under CUPE Local 498) and Port Moody (under CUPE Local 825), which approved their agreements in June and last December, respectively.
