LONDON, Ont. – The City of London’s ‘inside’ workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), have requested the assistance of a provincial mediator to help reach a collective agreement with their employer after management continued to make concession demands and failed to engage in meaningful discussions despite several attempts by the union to negotiate a fair contract.
“This has been a frustrating bargaining process with management,” said Shelley Navarroli, president of CUPE 101. “All we want is a fair contract so our members can continue to provide the important services that help keep our city running smoothly and efficiently. Instead, we find management’s conduct at these meetings to be disrespectful and unproductive – that’s why we are at this critical juncture in bargaining.”
To date, both parties have met eight times; yet, at the last conciliation meeting on April 27, the employer returned to the bargaining table with essentially the same offer that had already been discussed and rejected by the CUPE 101 bargaining team. “It appears the employer is not interested in bargaining,” continued Navarroli. “That left us with no choice but to ask for a no-board report, to put pressure on the employer and enlist the services of a mediator to help us reach a negotiated collective agreement.”
A no-board report was issued by the Minister of Labour establishing a legal lockout or strike deadline of May 23 at 12:01 a.m. Mediation talks will take place on May 21 and 22. The workers’ last contract expired on December 31, 2014.
“We are hopeful that with a provincial mediator at our next meeting, the employer will come back to bargaining with a different attitude and work with us to reach a fair collective agreement,” concluded Navarroli. “Our members are in the business of serving the public and we are keen to achieve a fair contract so we can continue to do just that – providing public services to our residents.”
CUPE 101 represents over 750 ‘inside’ workers who provide municipal services including water and waste water administration, finance and administration, building and property standard inspections, by-law enforcement, tourism, traffic management, roads construction management, recreation programs registration, social services, provincial offensive services, streets and traffic lights management, IT services and more.
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For more information, please contact:
Shelley Navarroli, CUPE 101 President, 519-432-6695
Fred Blake, CUPE National Representative, 519-433-1754
James Chai, CUPE Communications, 905-739-3999
