What's new
March 26, 2012
City's final offer to CUPE Local 79 to go to ratification vote
Shortly after midnight, the City of Toronto reached an agreement with CUPE Local 79 that will see the City's final offer go to the union membership for a ratification vote on Wednesday, March 28. The City has four collective agreements with Local 79 (Full-time, Part-time B, Long-Term Care Homes and Services and Recreation Workers units) representing 23,000 workers. Read more
Read highlights of key terms and conditions of employment and benefits in the City's March 24, 2012, Final Proposal to CUPE Local 79 in all four CUPE Units and the TCEU Local 416 (CUPE) Collective Agreement.
March 22, 2012
Locals 79 and 4948 commissioned Environics Research Group to conduct a public services/labour relations survey Neither union fully released the survey specifics. Read a commentary on the survey and its results.
March 19, 2012
CUPE Local 79 has set a strike vote for Tuesday, March 20. The union has stated in its announcement that its goal is "winning fair collective agreements without a strike". The way to do that is to by negotiating the new collective agreements at the bargaining table. Read more
March 13, 2012
The City is attempting to negotiate reasonableness back into the terms and conditions of employment with its unions. The City's proposed language would still provide leading terms and conditions of employment compared to other public or private sector employers. Read the City's statement on Local 79's bargaining proposals
March 9
Message from Toronto's City Manager to Mayor Ford, Members of Council and City of Toronto management
Today, the City of Toronto received written notification of the signed "No Board" report regarding Local 416 bargaining from the Ontario Ministry of Labour. The City requested a No Board report from the Ministry with regard to collective bargaining with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 79 on March 2.
The issuance of a No Board report means that Local 79 will be in a legal strike position and the City in a legal lockout position as at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, March 24; that is, one minute past midnight on the Friday night.
The City wants to reach agreement with Local 79. We are hopeful that an agreement remains possible during this period and are strongly committed to negotiating a new collective agreement with Local 79.
The City's service delivery plans regarding how City services will be maintained during a potential labour disruption will be announced to Members of Council, the public and the media at the appropriate time. The TTC, Police and Fire Services, Emergency Medical Services, the City's Long-Term Care Homes and Services (Homes for the Aged) and Toronto Community Housing Corporation properties would not be affected.
I will continue to keep you informed of our progress. The most up-to-date information is available on our collective bargaining website www.toronto.ca/bargaining. I encourage you, where possible, to follow the City Twitter feed at @torontocomms for the latest news.
In the meantime, should you have any questions, please contact Bruce Anderson, Executive Director of Human Resources at banders2@toronto.ca.
Sincerely,
Joseph P. Pennachetti
City Manager
January 16
Message from Toronto's City Manager to Mayor Ford, Members of Council and City of Toronto management
The City of Toronto has been working since October to try and negotiate a collective agreement with the Toronto Civic Employees Union Local 416 representing the City's "outside workers".
We are looking for reasonable changes to the collective agreements that will give the City the flexibility to make much-needed changes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of City services. We are committed to negotiating an agreement that is fair to our employees and reasonable and affordable for the residents and businesses of Toronto.
The City's focus on finding meaningful changes to our restrictive collective agreement provisions had us table a comprehensive plan forward for the City this morning. Our modified commonly called jobs-for-life proposal and a series of modest one-time lump sum payments over the next four years will help us achieve the changes that we require, while being fair to the employees, residents and businesses of Toronto. However, it is only one of the collective agreement provisions that we propose to change during this round of collective bargaining.
The City has consistently advised that this round of bargaining is about more than wages. We have some of the most highly restrictive collective agreement language in the country and if the City is to be able to provide cost-effective services to the public, we need changes to the terms and conditions of employment. We are determined to see those provisions changed through this round of bargaining.
The issue of employment security has been one of the highest profile items in the current collective agreement. This provision, which provides an employment guarantee for all permanent employees when contracting out, was first introduced in the collective agreement in 1999 for permanent employees with 10 years of seniority and then it was enhanced in 2005 to cover all permanent employees.
We propose to eliminate the provision and replace it with one that provides employment security for those employees who have spent the bulk of their career working for the City, specifically those employees with 25 years or more of seniority.
The commonly called jobs-for-life provision would be eliminated entirely for those employees with under 25 years' seniority.
The residents and businesses of Toronto want us to find long-term labour relations stability in this City so we can focus our attention on delivering superior customer service. The collective bargaining process is a long, drawn out, difficult process that oftentimes holds the residents and taxpayers hostage to potential labour disruptions.
We also need to establish long-term labour relations stability in this City so we can focus our attention on delivering superior customer service to residents and businesses. Our new proposal seeks to create this stability through a proposed four-year term.
Throughout the collective bargaining process, I am committed to keeping you informed of our progress. The most up-to-date information is available on our collective bargaining website. I encourage you, where possible, to follow the City Twitter feed at @torontocomms for the latest news.
In the meantime, should you have any questions please contact Bruce L. Anderson, Executive Director, Human Resources at banders2@toronto.ca.
Joseph P. Pennachetti
City Manager
January 12, 2012
Message from Toronto's City Manager to Mayor Ford, Members of Council and City of Toronto management
In order to negotiate new collective agreements with CUPE Local 79 (4 agreements) and TCEU Local 416, in a timely manner, we have requested the assistance of Conciliation Officers for bargaining with both Local 416 and Local 79.
As you know, the City provided notice to commence collective bargaining to each Local on October 4, 2011 — more than three months ago. The collective agreements expired on December 31, 2011.
The City's negotiating teams have been working hard to try and negotiate collective agreements that are fair, reasonable and affordable for both employees and taxpayers. In addition, the City's goal is to bring our collective agreements back to a more 'reasonable' level by reducing the restrictive language and increasing management`s ability to improve the delivery of City services.
Conciliation with Local 416 has not worked so far and we are at an impasse. In order to put a sharper focus on our interest in obtaining a negotiated agreement, we have been forced to take the next legal step available to us in our ongoing efforts to negotiate an agreement. We have asked the Conciliation Officer to request a 'no board report' from the Ontario Minister of Labour in regards to Local 416 bargaining.
When the 'no board' is issued, Local 416 will be in a legal strike position and the City in a legal lockout position within approximately 17 days. When known, I will immediately notify you of the effective date and time.
We want an agreement and that's why we have taken this step. We remain hopeful that if meaningful negotiations finally commence, a resolution remains possible during this 17-day period. The City continues to be strongly committed to negotiating a new collective agreement with Local 416.
Collective bargaining with Local 79 continues.
Throughout the collective bargaining process, I am committed to keeping you informed of our progress. The most up-to-date information is available on our collective bargaining website www.toronto.ca/bargaining. I encourage you, where possible, to follow the City Twitter feed at @torontocomms for the latest news.
In the meantime, should you have any questions please contact Bruce L. Anderson, Executive Director of Human Resources at banders2@toronto.ca.
Joseph P. Pennachetti
City Manager
January 9, 2012
The City of Toronto's Executive Director of Human Resources, Bruce L. Anderson wrote to the National Post about a January 4 published article. The following letter appears in the January 9 print edition of the National Post
Re: What The #!%*?: Is Another City Worker Strike In The Cards For Toronto?, Jan. 4.
Mark Ferguson, the president of the Toronto Civic Employees Union, Local 416, was quoted as comparing collective bargaining to being asked "which child would you be prepared to sacrifice." To its credit, the National Post described this statement as ramping up the hyperbole. However you characterize it, though, it is still offensive to those City staff who provide child care to Toronto taxpayers.
The City and its unions have some hard work to do if they are going to succeed in negotiating new collective agreements. The suggestion that being asked to participate in the process is akin to being asked to sacrifice a child does nothing to get the parties closer to a deal. His comments only highlight the approach that this union appears to be willing to take in collective bargaining. Frankly, the statement also spotlights the challenges that the city faces in attempting to negotiate a collective agreement with this union.
Bruce L. Anderson, Executive Director, Human Resources, City of Toronto
January 4, 2012
Message from Toronto's City Manager to Mayor Ford, Members of Council and City of Toronto management
As you know, the City is currently in contract negotiations with our three CUPE bargaining units whose six collective bargaining agreements expired on December 31, 2011. These bargaining units are Toronto Civic Employees' Union Local 416, CUPE Local 79 (Full-Time, Part-Time B, Long Term Care/Homes and Recreation Workers Units) and CUPE Local 2998 "community centres".
I wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with an update of where we are in the bargaining process.
The Employee and Labour Relations Committee has given the bargaining team a mandate to bargain for fair, reasonable and affordable agreements that take into account our business operations needs and the fiscal challenges facing the City of Toronto. There is no other municipal employer in Canada with collective bargaining language as restrictive as ours.
It is our goal, in this round of bargaining, to bring our collective agreements back to a more "reasonable" level regarding the numerous terms and conditions of employment that govern how the City effectively manages its operations. Essentially, we need fewer restrictions on management's ability to effectively manage and deliver services to the residents and businesses of Toronto in the most cost-effective and efficient manner.
In addition to the above goal, we will also need to negotiate appropriate wages and benefits to ensure ongoing financial sustainability.
The bargaining team is working hard to try and get negotiated collective agreements in a timely manner, which has necessitated calling in the Ministry of Labour to appoint neutral conciliation officers to help facilitate settlement of these new agreements. We have done so for our negotiations with Local 79 and Local 416.
Throughout the collective bargaining process, I will endeavour to keep you informed of our progress. The most up-to-date information is available on our collective bargaining website. I encourage you, where possible, to follow the City Twitter feed for the latest news.
Joseph P. Pennachetti
City Manager