City asks for conciliation in talks with workers
Request comes with time almost up on current deal
The city is requesting the province appoint a conciliator, following two months of talks with the union representing outside city workers.
The contracts for CUPE Local 416 along with three other unions expire at the end of this month. Bargaining began in mid-October. Deputy Mayor Denzil MinnanWong, who chairs the employee and labour relations committee, said talks are not progressing quickly enough with the union.
“We think that getting a conciliator that we’ll be able to make better progress,” he said, pointing to the looming end of the current collective agreement on Dec. 31.
In a statement, Local 416’s bargaining committee said they were “surprised” by the jump to conciliation.
“Yesterday, the city tabled substantial proposals that we were quickly moving to respond to. In spite of this, the city proceeded to apply for conciliation without receiving our response,” the Friday statement reads. “The bargaining committee continues to focus on negotiating a fair contract at the bargaining table that provides good jobs and enhances and protects the great services Toronto residents depend on to live better lives.”
Minnan-Wong would not be specific about what is still at issue, saying just that: “We’re looking for an agreement that taxpayers can afford,” one that is “fair” to the workers and provides “flexibility in the workplace.”
In a release posted Friday afternoon, the city’s bargaining team outlined “a number of challenges in the next 20 years”, including big infrastructure projects such as the Gardiner and improvements to housing and transit.
“All of these challenges put further pressure on the city’s strained financial capacity and our need to spend within our means, including financially sustainable and responsible collective agreements with our bargaining agents,” the release said.
That release put the cost of the current annual salaries and benefits for both CUPE Local 416 and Local 79 employees at $1.7 billion — or 15 per cent of last year’s operating budget. Minnan-Wong has previously questioned whether the average cost of a city employee, which he put at $85,000, is “sustainable.” Local 79 president Tim Maguire has said that average is not accurate.
Local 416 represents more than 5,400 employees, including those responsible for garbage collection, parks and water.
In an update to members on Dec.11, CUPE’s bargaining team said the city was “signalling it will be seeking substantive changes across a broad range of issues” but that they were “just getting into the ‘nuts and bolts’ of bargaining.”