Zoo reaches tentative deal as staff strike nears one-month mark

Board chair, managers to decide reopening date in case contract is approved by union members

The Toronto Zoo has reached a tentative contract with more than 400 staff who went on strike almost a month ago, closing the major tourist attraction.

CUPE Local 1600 announced a deal was reached early Thursday morning after almost 24 hours of continuous bargaining with the help of a provincially appointed mediator.

The union won’t release details of the proposed contract until its members, who walked off the job May 11, have a chance to review and vote on it. Union members include zookeepers, veterinary technicians, maintenance staff and mechanics.

The zoo’s board chair and chief executive praised the proposed contract and said they’ll decide over the next day or two how soon the zoo can open if union members approve it.

“We believe this tentative agreement is fair, reasonable and acknowledges the unique work that is done at the zoo,” they said in a statement.

“Consistent with the board’s notice and procedural requirements, a special meeting will be arranged for the purpose of the board’s ratification of the tentative agreement.”

The zoo added that non-union staff provided “excellent care” of the animals during the strike and that the research-and-breeding facility’s conservation programs “were not impacted.”

Contract talks initially faltered over the fate of a 20-year-old guarantee that the zoo would have a minimum of 150 fulltime staff members and safeguards against full-time permanent staff being laid off because their work was contracted out.

Talks resumed, but ended in a stalemate. The zoo conceded the 150-staff guarantee, but said it needed the “flexibility” of weakened job protections.

City negotiators proposed letting current eligible staff keep ironclad job security but that new hires be protected from contracting out only after 11 years of fulltime service.

The union rejected “two-tier” security and said the city offer would protect only a fraction of a relatively young staff with high turnover.

Local 1600 counter-proposed that only staff with less than four years’ service be vulnerable to contracting out.

After a prolonged standoff, which included some zoo board members saying the attraction was needlessly “attacking” its own workforce, Local 1600 president Christine McKenzie proposed a new offer Wednesday morning, setting off the latest round of bargaining.

She did not reveal details, saying only that striking staff were worried about the welfare of the zoo’s roughly 5,000 animals and wanted to get back on the job.

Peak summer season is fast approaching for the zoo, which has struggled in recent years with sagging attendance and a rising city subsidy that last year hit $12.6 million. The zoo welcomed just over 1.3 million visitors last year.