Coast Hotels issued 72-hour lockout notice to unionized workers at the Coast Bastion Hotel yesterday.

Unite Here Local 40 members staged a one-day strike at the downtown Nanaimo hotel on Saturday, citing higher wages to match increases in cost of living and heavy workloads for housekeeping staff. The two sides were set to begin negotiations Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 13-14, but mediation will now take place instead.

Laird Cronk, newly elected president for the B.C. Federation of Labour, called for the mediation following the unionB次元官网网址檚 strike and the the two sides have agreed to the emergency mediation. The union has set a midnight deadline on Dec. 13 to reach a deal and has called on the labour movement to pull business from the hotel if a deal isnB次元官网网址檛 reached, according to a press release.

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It will be business as usual during mediation unless membership chooses to walk off, which they will decide during the mediation process, said Octavian Cadabeschi, Unite Here Local 40 spokesman.

The lockout would begin Friday.

Hotels in Victoria and Prince George are also affected by the lockout notice, which would affect more than 250 workers.

Coast Hotels was reached for comment, but didnB次元官网网址檛 immediately respond.

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