Metro Vancouver workers threaten full-scale strike with little progress in talks

The downtown skyline and cranes at port are silhouetted while seen from the harbour, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER — Striking Metro Vancouver outside workers say they will begin a “full-scale indefinite strike” on Tuesday if a tentative agreement isn’t reached with the regional district sooner.

The union representing about 750 Metro Vancouver workers says in a statement that new picket lines are going up Monday at the regional district’s head office in Burnaby, as well as at the Annacis Island, Lulu Island and Northwest Langley wastewater treatment plants.

Those facilities join the list of places where workers have already withdrawn non-essential service, including regional parks, water treatment plants, construction yards and the Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation.

The two sides have been undergoing mediation at the BC Labour Relations Board, but union president Jesse Medeiros says two days in the process have not yielded meaningful progress.

The workers have been without a contract for 18 months, triggering the dispute that led to the ongoing job actions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2026.