Saint John CUPE Local 486 vote to strike amid stalled negotiation with the city

City of Saint John inside workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike vote after a stalemate at the negotiating table on Aug. 12.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 486 had a 94 per cent vote to initiate job action against the municipality after the union said the city is failing to meet its own wage escalation policy.

“The city can’t justify why they will not honour their commitment to their own wage escalation policy which mandates them to use the three year rolling average of the assessment base growth in negotiations and they say it is for fair, predictable and affordable wage increases,” said Mike Davidson, with CUPE National.

The wage escalation policy was created in 2019 as the city started to course correct its finances. It was designed to increase wages with economic growth.

In Saint John, the union said it saw a little more than five per cent growth, and in the last two years, has seen $123 million in revenue, adding it believes there is $37.5 million in a slush fund.

“The reality is they have the money to pay these workers what they are owed and what they were promised,” Davidson said.

“It’s unfortunate that now the city is forcing this now on citizens, the business and these workers to take a strike to try and get them back to the bargaining table.”

Davidson explained the union asked for something between a cost of living increase and the little more than five per cent growth it saw so far in 2023, but wouldn’t say what the city’s counter offer was — adding only it wasn’t close to the ask from CUPE.

The union also said the city has used the wage escalation policy for other municipal employees, but not for Local 486, whose workforce is 70 per cent women and is the lowest paid in the entire municipality.

Local 486 has been without a contract since December 2021.

But Davidson and other CUPE members said the impact will be widespread should a suitable offer not come forward within the 24-hour deadline.

Members work in recreation, police, fire and 911 dispatch, court services, customer service, bylaw enforcement, financial services, permits, administrative support, IT, among others.

It could mean significant delays or shut downs of those departments because there are no designation levels under the Industrial Relations Act. However, the union alleges the city has been training managers to the work in the absence of its members — but it won’t be enough to cover off a major impact.

Davidson said the membership stood behind the city through almost a decade or more of financial hardship, including cutting 10 positions from the union during a sustainability effort, but the time has come to provide fairer wages.

The union said one in five, or about 20 per cent, of the membership has a second job.

Monic MacVicar said she has a dual income household, but has found it difficult to keep up.

“We both have good paying jobs and I would say for the past eight months we’re living in the negative two thousand dollars a month,” she said speaking with reporters.

She and Davidson said other members have affirmed that reality.

“City services will be disrupted,” Davidson said. “We do not want to go on strike but we need to conclude this round of bargaining.”

The City of Saint John issued a statement late Friday, after multiple requests from Global News went unanswered, saying it has “been committed to reaching an agreement with CUPE Local 486 that reflects fairness and responsibility for both taxpayers and employees.”

It disputes the claim it isn’t matching the wage escalation policy.

“The fact is that the city’s wage proposal to CUPE Local 486 is fair and reasonable and fully compliant with council’s Wage Escalation Policy,” the statement read in part.

It said the membership has been fairly compensated over the years.

“The Wage Escalation Policy is to ensure affordability, a responsibility the city has with taxpayer dollars,” it reads.

“As a responsible municipality, we want to ensure that wage and benefit budgets are affordable and that they do not exceed tax base growth as we want to avoid tax rate increases for all taxpayers and any reductions in service levels.”

The city said it remains confident an agreement can be reached, but said it is preparing for a strike, adding there might be delays and disruptions to some services citizens need, but should be reassured 911 dispatch will not see any interruptions.