About 1,800 outside workers for Vancouver started job action Thursday. But while they avoided any major disruptions to the public, their union warned it could be the start of a full-blown strike.
The city is offering its employees a 10 per cent pay hike over 39 months, but the union wants 18 per cent, and the two sides haven't met since Tuesday night.
At Vancouver's Transfer Station, which handles much of the waste for the city, employees halted work for two hours to hold a "study break."
"We deserve a raise, we deserve to be treated respectfully," one worker told CTV British Columbia.
He added that losing two hours of pay was "no big deal."
There were eight other study sessions at various locations across the Lower Mainland, as the union put pressure on the city.
"We are in a legal position to commence this, and there is no discipline that will be applied," Mike Jackson, president of CUPE Local 1004, told workers.
He added it was the "first of many" possible job actions.
Garbage collection was still picked up Thursday, but the service could be significantly delayed on Friday.
City spokesperson Jerry Dobrovolny said Vancouver needs to reach a deal its residents would consider fair.
"We owe a duty of responsibility not only to our employees, but to our taxpayers," he said.
If the 1,800 outside workers do call a strike, about 600 city managers will try to pick up the slack, but the impact on services will be obvious.
"There will be impacts to residents, to businesses, and to our employees," said Dobrovolny. "Everyone suffers during a strike. It's a lose, lose, lose situation."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Dave Pinton
