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MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Employees at Ontario Works in the Region of Peel, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 966, enter their last scheduled day of conciliation on Friday, April 27.
“Not only did we never get to meet the Region directly in bargaining, we weren’t in conciliation long when the Region asked the Ministry of Labour for a ‘No Board.’ That’s why we have a strike/lock out date of May 2,” said Mary Jo Falle, president of CUPE 966.
Monday, April 23, the CUPE 966 bargaining team met in conciliation with the Region. The Region offered no proposals to the union that would assist the parties in reaching a deal and informed Local 966 at lunchtime that they were leaving the table saying there was nothing left to discuss.
“You can imagine our surprise when we went to conciliation believing we were in for a full day of real bargaining – and the employer left without any bargaining at all,” said Michel Revelin, vice-president of CUPE 966.
When the union’s bargaining team meets in conciliation again on Friday, they are committed to remaining until a fair and equitable contract has been reached.
“We have no desire to disrupt the vital services our members provide to the community. The employer still has a number of concessions on the table. In fact, they are the same concessions they had on the table when the local voted 89 per cent to give their bargaining team a strike mandate,” Revelin continued.
“The Region of Peel must do what’s right and be the equal opportunity employer they claim to be,” said Falle. “It’s time to rebuild the trust and confidence in Peel.
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For more information, please contact:
Mary Jo Falle, President, CUPE Local 966 289 233-3714
Michel Revelin, Vice-President, CUPE Local 966 416 822-3779
Helen Manning, CUPE National Representative 416 220-9794
Wendy Forbes, CUPE Communications 416 892-8716
