Outside workers begin countdown to possible strike or lockout
More than 5,000 City of Toronto outside workers, including the ones who collect garbage east of Yonge Street, plow snow and fix potholes, could be off the job in 17 days after the Ministry of Labour issued a deadline Monday for a possible strike or lockout.
The city will be in a position to lockout members of CUPE Local 416 as of 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 27. The workers, who voted overwhelmingly last month in favour of taking strike action if a fair contract could not be reached, will also be in position to legally strike.
The two sides have been in collective bargaining for more than four months, including five days of negotiation with the help of a provincially appointed conciliator.
“Despite our best efforts to reach an agreement that is fair to our valued employees and affordable for the residents and taxpayers of the city, we have been unable to do so,” the city said in a written statement. “The city of Toronto remains committed to negotiating a collective agreement that is fair and affordable and will continue to engage with the union to achieve that goal.”
The city will release details of it contingency plan in the coming days, according to the statement.
The two sides are at an impasse over job security, parental leave, benefits and wages.
After bargaining and mediation fail, setting a deadline for a strike or lockout is part of a process governed by the Ontario Labour Relations Act. The two parties can agree to continue bargaining past the deadline. CUPE Local 79, the union representing more than 20,000 City of Toronto inside workers — including city planners, child-care workers and summer recreation workers — is right behind them in the process and has asked for help from a provincial conciliator. If those talks fail, a strike deadline may be set for them as well. Both contracts expired Dec. 31. In contracts negotiated in 2011 and in 2016, city workers agreed to new limits on job security, a reduction in benefits and pay increases below the rate of inflation.
In a statement to the Star, Local 416 president Eddie Mariconda said the city is seeking to make deep cuts to employee benefits, even after it saved $18 million in one year by switching benefit providers.
“The city needs to get off the path to a labour disruption,” said Mariconda. “If they have the residents’ best interests in mind, then they will come to the table, make a commitment to front-line workers and negotiate a deal.”
Other city services that could be affected include animal services, water main repair and water treatment, parks maintenance, city vehicle maintenance and janitorial work in city buildings. Paramedics would remain on the job under essential service provisions, but ambulance service staff would be off the job. Garbage recycling and compost pickup would halt east of Yonge Street, where it has not been contracted out to private firms.
Last week, Mayor John Tory confirmed the city is seeking contracts similar to those negotiated in 2011 and 2016.
“We’re certainly not looking to go backwards,” Tory said, adding that permanent city staff enjoy good pay, pensions and job security.
A letter obtained by the Star that was sent from city management to Tory and the city’s 25 councillors states the city is “not seeking to make any changes” in job security.
A union source called that misleading. The previous contract said members with 15 years’ service can’t be laid off if their position is contracted out to the private sector. The union wants to move that date into the new contract, so more staff can become protected as they hit the 15-year mark, the source said, while the city wants to keep the date in the old contract period so nobody new becomes eligible.
“The city needs to get off the path to a labour disruption.”
EDDIE MARICONDA LOCAL 416 PRESIDENT