Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows libraries to close due to labour fight

All Fraser Valley Regional Library locations will be closed effective 8:43 a.m. on Friday due to a labour dispute, according to the organization that manages them.

The FVRL issued 72-hour lockout notice to CUPE 1698 members who provide library services across the region. 

“This is an unprovoked attack on library workers and the communities we serve,” said Laurie Dyck, president of CUPE 1698. “CEO Scott Hargrove and the Library’s Board of Directors have chosen to escalate this dispute instead of sitting down to negotiate a fair agreement. They are threatening to suspend library services in an effort to force workers to accept a contract that falls short of regional standards. Their decision will hurt workers, families, and some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.”

Since June 2, 2025, FVRL has been in negotiations with CUPE Local 1698, including with the assistance of a Labour Relations Board appointed mediator to renew the agreement.

“We were unable to reach an agreement, despite FVRL proposing numerous meaningful improvements for staff, as well as general wage increases in line with known and projected inflation,” reads a FVRL statement, with a raise of 9.25 per cent over three years. “This has been a truly unprecedented round of bargaining.”

The FVRL said the two sides are approximately $3.1 million apart, over the proposed three-year term. Since November, no bargaining has taken place and the union has not accepted FVRL’s invitation to reconsider mediation.

On Feb. 26, FVRL followed up with the same mediation invitation, following which the union then proposed a two-year agreement set to expire in only 10 months with wage increases of four per cent and three per cent. 

“This was a significant reversal from bargaining table discussions where a three-year agreement had been proposed by both parties and where the Union knew that a two-year agreement was not possible because FVRL would be forced to bargain a new agreement with a new board unfamiliar with FVRL bargaining,” said the FVRL.

FVRL’s board chair, Coun. Mike Hayes of Pitt Meadows, and FVRL’s CEO Scott Hargrove, noted that “FVRL remains committed to reaching a renewed agreement, and since November 2025 has expressed to the Union that it is open to resuming mediation if the Union is prepared to work within the monetary framework of our final offer.”

While the libraries will remain closed starting Friday morning until further notice, customers are urged to make use of FVRL’s collection of downloadable eBooks, eAudiobooks and other digital resources and services available through FVRL’s website, www.fvrl.ca. Library cards will also be available through the website for those Fraser Valley residents who don’t currently have one in order to access our digital resources.

All FVRL book drops will be unavailable for the duration of the closure. Customers who have borrowed books, Playground items and other physical materials are asked to keep them until the libraries reopen. FVRL no longer charges late fees, so there will be no fines on items kept past their due date.