LONDON, ON – The City of London’s inside workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), voted earlier this afternoon to accept a new four-year collective agreement, ending a strike that started on May 23.
“This has been a long and difficult strike for our members and their families and, this afternoon, our members voted to accept the tentative agreement so we could all go back to work and do what we do best – serving the residents of London,” said Shelley Navarroli, president of CUPE 101. “We want to thank the community for their support and patience during this two-month strike. Our members provide important public services and look forward to providing critical services that make London strong.”
“A strike is never easy and this strike is no different, but our members showed strength and solidarity during this struggle and we’ve emerged stronger together because of the support shown not only by our membership but also by Londoners who believe in the power of a fair collective agreement,” continued Navarroli. “Our new contract is a collective effort of our members standing strong and defending our rights to a fair collective agreement.”
The new collective agreement contains wage increases of 4.75% over four years, and the contract will expire on December 31, 2018. “This contract would not have been possible without the full support of our membership,” said Navarroli. “Together, we managed to push back a lot of contract take-aways that management was looking for. The new contract is vastly improved from the proposed contract tabled by the employer prior to the strike.”
“Our members will return to work with our full focus on delivering important public services that Londoners can count on,” said Navarroli. “While our members may be ‘inside’ workers, this summer we marched outside to defend what we stand for and what all workers expect – to be treated with respect and with fairness.”
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For further information, please contact:
Shelley Navarroli, CUPE 101 President, 519-432-6695
Fred Blake, CUPE National Representative, 519-433-1754
James Chai, CUPE Communications, 416-458-3983
