City hall union serves strike notice
Mayor encourages labour leaders, administration to continue bargaining
Edmonton's Civic Service Union 52 served strike notice Monday morning after weekend negotiations with the city stalled, potentially affecting everything from 911 operations and IT to 311 services.
Picket lines will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday, after the 72-hour notice period. Libraries are also set to close on Thursday.
“Where is the leadership in this city? It's regrettable that it has come to this, but our members have been more than patient and fair, asking for what is reasonable after five years of stagnant wages,” said Lanny Chudyk, president of CSU 52.
Last week, a strong majority (88 per cent) of the members voted to reject the City of Edmonton's “best and final offer” after the city took the question straight to the members in a legal effort to bypass union negotiations.
“This isn't just about our members — it's about the entire city. A strike will have ripple effects across Edmonton, impacting services that residents rely on daily, jeopardizing the safety of our citizens, and paralyzing industries. We do not take issuing this notice lightly,” Chudyk said.
More than 5,000 city workers haven't seen a raise for six years.
On the city side, there's a burgeoning budget and tax burden some have blamed on union wages.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said the services city employees provide are essential, valued and critical to Edmontonians.
“I would encourage the union and city administration to go back to the negotiating table and try to strike a new deal that is fair and equitable for our employees at the same time that it is affordable for taxpayers,” he said.
“I think negotiation is the solution. I would encourage both parties to go back to the table and try to come up with a new deal,” he said, acknowledging that negotiations are the responsibility of the city's staff, and that city council doesn't get involved in negotiations.
“What I understand is that what administration has proposed and what CSU 52 is asking, the difference is quite wide,” he said.
“That wider difference can only be resolved by sitting at the negotiating table. And administration will obviously provide us with an update on how things will go and proceed,” he said.
HARDBALL'S NOT WORKING
Coun. Tim Cartmell called Monday for the two sides to come back to the table to avert strike action.
“I think that there's room for agreement here with a bit more conversation and a bit more open dialogue,” Cartmell said at an afternoon media availability. “And I'm really just suggesting that the process needs to move to that point where we're actually having that dialogue. If there is a need to invite some councillors into a conversation about this number or that number or the total cost of those things, then let's have that meeting, if that's what it takes to jump-start to a conversation.
“I've had relatively brief conversations with both negotiating sides, and it doesn't take very long to run through the list of terms that we're talking about. I don't see why we can't figure it out,” he said.
CSU 52 served strike notice Monday at 11 a.m. after the stalemate in negotiations entrenched on the weekend.
“We've had the advice of those professional negotiators, those labour lawyers about how we can expect this to go, and it hasn't resolved itself. I can see ahead of us a conversation around strikes or lockouts or these things that put us at loggerheads,” Cartmell said.
“But these are our partners in delivering services to the City of Edmonton. If there is a stoppage of one kind or another, it's just Edmontonians that get hurt.”
Hard feelings can be hard to recover from, he said.
“I would just rather us move beyond the stage of being angry to the stage that we will inevitably get to, which is the negotiation, and come to a deal,” he said.
Cartmell said he believed the city's negotiators were surprised by the firm 88 per cent “no” vote from members who answered back last week to the city's legal direct-to-members poll.
“Somewhere along the way, we haven't read the situation properly here. The feedback I was getting was contrary to that of administration,” he said.
THE WORKERS
More than 1,000 CSU 52 members work as 911 operators, 911 call evaluators and police dispatchers. They are not deemed essential by the labour board.
According to the union, wages for 911 operators in Edmonton are running 38 per cent less than comparable positions in Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Ottawa.
Operators at the city's call centre, 311, would be on strike, as would the city's IT department, the community services department, financial and corporate services, business permitting, along with staff assigned to councillors' offices and the mayor's office.
It's been almost a half-century since the 1976 strike.
“Giving notice is extremely rare and completely avoidable. We've been able to work with every council since and come to terms on a fair deal — however the mayor and this council have been inaccessible and avoidant,” Chudyk said.
“The fact that we have come to this point clearly showcases their inexperience. Leaders must take accountability and make tough decisions. Ignoring the needs of your workforce for half a decade is not one of them. We implore council and the City of Edmonton to take action, not just for the sake of our members, but for the well-being of all Edmontonians,” he said.