city of toronto inside workers seek extension of deadline to monday
cupe local 79 represents 30,000 inside workers
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toronto city hall on december 17, 2024. ernest doroszuk/toronto sun
cupe local 79, which represents 30,000 inside workers for the city of toronto, want the strike deadline extended to monday at 12:01 a.m. — meaning if no deal is reached over the weekend, they’ll walk out at the start of march break.
“we are making one final effort to get a deal,” union president nas yadollahi said during a news conference wednesday morning.
“if there is no agreement by 12:01 a.m. on monday morning, we are on strike. we don’t want to strike — we never have.”
currently, the union will be in a legal strike position, and the city in a legal lockout position, as of saturday at 12:01 a.m., a city spokesperson said.
at a separate press briefing on wednesday afternoon, city manager paul johnson said he feels “there’s lots of time for (a deal). we really want to work towards not having a disruption, particularly over what’s happening next week. it is march break. so let me be clear again. we do not want a strike. my biggest optimism is that i heard very clearly that (cupe local 79) don’t want to have a work stoppage.”
yadollahi said the union on tuesday afternoon received from the city what it is calling its final offer, which johnson also confirmed.
“we have diligently reviewed this offer, which still falls short of many of the needs our members have identified,” she said.
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“we will be countering the city’s proposal with our own later (wednesday). we’re willing to do everything to reach a fair deal. that is why we are extending our strike deadline and will negotiate throughout the weekend. but make no mistake, if there is no deal by just past midnight on monday morning, we will walk off the job.”
such a strike could affect city-run camps and activities at the start of march break.
if that does happen, the city has previously said refunds will be issued for any paid programs and clients won’t be charged for each day city-run child-care centres that remain closed.
johnson confirmed long-term care homes would be “fully operational” and homeless shelters may have less staff but will still continue to be open with “contingency plans in place.”
from the city’s side, he thought it reasonable that parents know whether march break-related activities or childcare would be affected by any work stoppage by saturday daytime.
“i think sunday at midnight (monday at 12:01 a.m.) becomes really problematic,” said johnson. “that means you have to stay up very late at night to understand if your child care centre would be operational by monday, let alone the march break camps. so our hope is the timing that was originally laid out is what we move to. i understand what the union has said in terms of what they consider to be their deadline for making their decisions. i still think we have some time to talk about this where we would be able to offer some clarity first thing saturday to families about what is happening next week.”
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earlier, yadollahi also accused johnson of addressing media with updates on the talks but not sitting opposite the union at the table where it counts, which he later disputed saying he’s “been fully engaged in this process. to say that i’m not fully engaged in this, is absolutely false.”
“this is a toxic way to negotiate,” she said. “it’s mismanagement that’s led vacancies to pile up. over 1,200 vacancies in toronto public health, more than 400 unfilled positions in long-term care homes, over 2,000 recreation jobs sitting vacant, meaning fewer programs for kids and families. a 30% vacancy rate in some shelter and housing programs leaving vulnerable residents without the support they need.”
the city’s bargaining team has been at the table since december and johnson said it remains committed to negotiating a new deal with an offer of a nearly 15% general wage increase over the next four years.
“and it starts with a nearly 4% increase of 3.95,” said johnson. “and if you look at the current rate of inflation, that would make it just a little bit more than double the current rate of inflation here at the city of toronto.”
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