City of Winnipeg workers to vote on offer CUPE says includes wage freeze

The union representing more than 5,000 City of Winnipeg workers is recommending its members vote no to the city’s latest offer Wednesday.

CUPE Local 500 President Gord Delbridge says the four-year deal on the table includes a wage freeze in the first year, a one per cent increase in both the second and third years, and a 1.25 per cent increase in the fourth.

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“Just cost of living alone is in the ballpark of about 1.6 per cent and that would be asking our members to take a step backwards and I don’t think that they deserve that,” he said.

If the membership votes no, the union would have a strike mandate. But Delbridge says they would go back to the bargaining table, and a strike would be the last resort.

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“I think that we can do better. And not necessarily does that mean that we’re going to end up on strike. It’s at the will of the city of Winnipeg and their negotiators to come back to the table with something that’s reasonable and that’s fair.”

Delbridge says CUPE has been “bailing the city out of poor financial management”, and that a fairer deal can be struck that will be good for its members and taxpayers.

“What we’re looking for is just a modest increase that would just coincide with the cost of inflation or even getting close to that. We’re not asking for a lot, but for them to come back and say that we’re getting nothing – I can’t recommend that to our members. I don’t think that’s fair to them,” he said.

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The city employees have been without a contract since December of last year.

Delbridge says the last time city workers walked off the job – 1919.