Student union votes for strike mandate

The union representing around 1,900 support workers at the University of Saskatchewan has voted to give its bargaining committee a strike mandate, two weeks after it served notice that negotiations had reached an impasse over pensions.

Canadian Union of Public Employeeslocal 1975, whose members work in clerical, administrative and various other positions, conducted the strike vote last Thursday and Friday, and announced the results Monday morning. While the union and university have to go through a mandatory 60-day mediation period before any job action can commence, the membership voting more than 70 per cent in favour of a strike sends a “strong message,” CUPE Local 1975 vice-president Bob Jones said.

“I think we looked at all the options, and this was the one — we were at that point where we had to have this vote, to make sure our members were on the same page as we were,” Jones said.

CUPE Local 1975, which has been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2015, said previously the university ’s threat to make unilateral cuts to its members’ pension plan became the “main sticking point” in the now-stalled negotiations.

In a prepared statement, U of S spokesman Gord Hunchak confirmed that mediation is the next step for the university and CUPE Local 1975 to reach a new collective agreement.