City of Vancouver workers ratified a new contract in May, nearly five months after their last contract expired. Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 11 represents 175 city workers including parking enforcement officers, construction inspectors, accountants, and customer service representatives.
The new contract was approved by more than 90% of the members who voted.
Most workers will get an immediate 3% cost of living raise and another 3% raise on Jan. 1, 2026, in addition to standard step increases. The contract runs through Dec. 31, 2026. Workers also get a signing bonus equal to 1.25% of their annual wages in 2024, which works out to more than $500 for the lowest-paid workers.
In December, the city was proposing wage-scale adjustments based on a survey comparing certain job classifications to similar positions with other employers. The way the city intended to apply the changes, nearly half of the OPEIU-represented workers would have had their wages frozen because their current pay is higher than the top of the new pay range, the union said. Local 11 negotiated to re-evaluate those salary comparisons, so now just around 20 workers will get less than the 3% cost of living raise — some slightly less than 3%, some 0%.
In the previous contract, workers paid around 20% of the cost of their health insurance premiums, or $330 per month. The new contract reduces the amount workers have to contribute to $91 or about 5%.
The new contract also regains double-time pay for working on holidays. The workers used to get double pay for holidays, but that was reduced to time-and-a-half pay in previous contracts.
“I’ve always been told that when you lose a benefit, you’ll never get it back. This negotiation was a historical win for us, fixing a lot of the A in our neglected contract,” Dani Story, a customer service representative and OPEIU Local 11 member, said in a press release announcing the new contract.
Local 11 increased member involvement during this round of negotiations, forming a Contract Action Team of members who worked to guide campaign strategy and keep other members engaged in the bargaining process.
