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WHITBY, Ont. – As the Region of Durham refuses to back down from their concession demands on Durham Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers, CUPE 1764, representing 1500 ‘inside’ municipal workers, is being forced to go on strike starting at 6:00 a.m., Thursday, June 19, unless management and council back off their concession demands and an agreement is reached before the deadline.
“A deal is there to be reached – we were really close to hammering out a fair contract that would have addressed both parties’ issues,” said Pauline Hopley, president of CUPE 1764. “Unfortunately, we are in this precarious position because the employer is playing hardball with workers who save lives in our community. Because of management’s behaviour, Durham residents are being compromised and forced to go without the public services that we all rely on.”
Management is targeting the EMS workers with concession demands that focus specifically on emergency workers. In spite of the employer’s divide-and-conquer tactics, members of CUPE 1764 remained united and voted to go on strike if a fair deal is not reached.
“Our one-and-only goal is to reach a fair contract,” said Hopley. “We have offered the employer different options to reach a settlement, including sending the outstanding dispute to interest arbitration so an independent third party can help settle the dispute and Durham residents won’t be affected by a service shutdown. Instead of accepting our offer to settle, we are now in a countdown to an unnecessary situation that no one wants. However, we remain ready and available to meet and hammer out an agreement before the deadline.”
Some of the services that could be affected by a management/labour dispute include child care services, social services, EMS, lab water testing, court services, and others. CUPE 1764 represents ‘inside’ workers including planners, social service workers, child care workers and clerical staff, courtroom staff, economic development and public policy staff, health unit and EMS workers, among others. Their last contract expired on March 31, 2014.
“We are committed to working with the employer to work out a deal, but we need two willing parties to reach a settlement,” said Hopley. “We are left with a strong impression that the employer is trying to punish one group of workers, but, instead, is punishing all the workers and the community by pushing workers to go out on strike. We are urging council to reconsider their hardball approach. All it takes is an attitude change from the employer’s side and a deal can be reached.”
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For further information, please contact:
Pauline Hopley, President of CUPE 1764, 905-441-3116
Michelle Miller, CUPE National Representative, 905-433-4760
James Chai, CUPE Communications, 905-739-3999
