City
Toronto Municipal Workers Strike Over, Pending Ratification Vote
CUPE local 79 has reached a tentative deal with the city, almost surely bringing the 36 day Toronto municipal workers strike to an end. With news coming this morning that the city and CUPE local 416 had reached a tentative deal, the focus of negotiations shifted to securing a deal with local 79. With ratification votes planned for Wednesday, picket lines could be removed as early as Thursday, marking the return of the approximately 30000 workers who walked off the job June 22nd.
Although both sides refuse to disclose the details of the deal prior to ratification, Mayor Miller and the president of local 79, Ann Dembinski, are claiming to have achieved their goals. Dembinski expressed confidence that the deal will be ratified by union members, while Miller said that the deal satisfies the city's mandate and "meets the principles set at the outset of negotiations."
With such rhetoric from both sides, it remains unclear why a deal was not reached earlier. In announcing that local 416 had reached a tentative agreement earlier, union President Mark Ferguson reported that the city removed its concessions from the table at around 7:30 this morning, but in the absence of details about the deal, it's impossible to verify this claim.
Toronto city manager, Joe Pennachetti, is currently working on a plan to have services back up and running as quickly as possible. Although he too was unable to give specifics, he plans to hold a press conference after the ratification votes. As information comes available about the resumption of services, it will be posted to the Access Toronto website.
Photo by uwajedi.
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Miller should have dealt with this in January when the contracts expired to save the summer.
Miller's gotta go.
He's lost me as well as thousands who voted for him twice.
Either he resigns now, with whatever dignity he's got left, or he'll get his ass booted out during next year's election.
But then, the strike, along with the Tamil protests, the "war on the car" and whatever else, prove that there are a lot of profoundly ignorant, reactionary halfwits walking around out there who don't care about anything unless it affects them diretly (unions included). And if it does, whoa, watch out. And for all the crazy hyperbole people spew about toxic parks and closed day camps and whatever else, this is primarily about convenience. Your trash is piling and getting smelly. It's unpleasant. Nothing more.
So grow up and get some perspective.
People are all for the right to strike/protest unless it affects them. And the people who had smelly garbage piling up at their house have nothing to complain about compared to the needy who had no access to social services - and yet they complain the loudest. The number of times I saw people calling it 'illegal' that they were being delayed dropping off their garbage was ridiculous. People's ignorance of labour laws is astounding.
My other pet peeve is how often I heard the term "Garbage Strike" even in the media, when only 5% of the workers on strike were garbage men.
Anyways, I just hope it's over.
I would support the garbage collection contracted out to those who can provide the best in quality for the lowest cost, CUPE can be free to bid as well. If Windsor and Toronto are the only two cities in Ontario that still use unionized workers, why continue?
it's on CUPEs.
Next!
But what good is public support? It won't hurry the negotiation process. The city or the union could give a rats a$$ about public support during bargaining. It's like saying, well I had the support of my family in negotiating my new job. It's irrelavent to the outcome
> I would support the garbage collection contracted out to those who can provide the best in quality for the lowest cost, CUPE can be free to bid as well.
CUPE is not a corporation. Why would they bid as a corporation on business?
> If Windsor and Toronto are the only two cities in Ontario that still use unionized workers, why continue?
Just because services are private does not mean they are non-union. There are plenty of private companies unionized. Transit in BC is a good example of that. I'm sure there are several sanitation companies in Ontario which are also unionized.
P.S. 9/10 times privatizing services, costs the public WAY more money. Just cause companies are only paying their sanitation workers 8 bucks an hour, doesn't mean that they are charging the city less then what our taxes currently pay for.
Yes Matt there is alot of exaggeration taking place but it is justified venting of people who are pissed off with Miller for his lack of leadership and the bull he has been delivering over the years about what a great job he has been doing managing the City. The exaggeration of the venting is only the corrolary of the Mayor's misleading of the public. People who once gave him the benefit of the doubt now realize they were duped and they are justifiably mad.
I'm watching the news conference on CP24 right now.
Is Miller melting down before our very own eyes?
He looks nervous, fidgety, beat up and haggard.