Toronto outside workers threaten June 22 strike

Toronto outside workers warned Thursday they will go on strike June 22 if they don’t reach an agreement with the City of Toronto by then.

“We hoped the city would get serious about achieving a deal with us and they would take concessions off the table,” local 416 CUPE president Mark Ferguson said at a press conference Thursday. “So far that has not happened.”

The union has been negotiating with the city of Toronto with little progress since January; the city is seeking 100 pages of concessesions to their collective agreement.

The union comprises more than 6,000 city workers, including garbage collectors, Toronto EMS, water and waste-water treatment workers, animal services, and parks and recreation staff.

Meanwhile, the city and Local 79, representing indoor workers, were back at the bargaining table for a third day.

Negotiations stalled last week with both sides accusing each other of bargaining in bad faith over disagreements on a new sick leave plan. The city and Local 79 dropped their complaints, started talking again Monday and have imposed a communications blackout for the time being.

In a press release Thursday afternoon, the city said it “˜”˜remains committed to reaching a negotiated settlement at each of the bargaining tables.’’

It adds: “˜”˜In the event of a labour disruption, the City of Toronto will implement a contingency plan to ensure that critical services continue. The plan will be widely communicated immediately before any labour disruption. The TTC, Police and Fire Services and the City’s Long Term Care Homes & Services (Homes for the Aged) and Toronto Community Housing properties would not be affected. In addition, the City and unions have agreements for maintaining essential Emergency Medical Services (Ambulance).’’