The Burnaby-based Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, local 378, and B.C. Hydro reached a tentative agreement at the end of November.
Bargaining began in April, according to a press release from the union, though there was a hiatus during the summer.
The agreement - which covers the period from last April to March 2014 - includes a four per cent wage increase overall, staggered over two years between April 1, 2012 and Oct. 1 2013, the release stated. The first increase is fully retroactive.
"I'm pleased we were able to keep the concessions the employer tabled during bargaining out of the collective agreement," the union's vice-president, Gwenne Farrell, said in the release. The agreement also included some benefit increases, such as expansion of immediate family in the language for bereavement cover-age, the release stated.
"While we didn't make large gains with this agreement, we were able to safeguard what our members currently have and keep their wages close to inflation," Farrell said.
The union represents nearly 2,000 inside technical, profession-al and administrative workers at B.C. Hydro.
The union's bargaining committee is recommending members ratify the agreement.
The ratification vote will be held by mail-in ballot, with a voting deadline of Dec. 13, after NOW deadlines.
