The Town of Whitby’s 300 full-time striking CUPE 53 members want to get back to work. But we’re not willing to accept the current terms being offered.

In response to Mayor Elizabeth Roy’s November 7 statement:

    1. ‘This includes grandfathering all current employees who remain in their current roles so there is no change to their schedule or hours of work.’
       Clarification:
      The issue is with ‘current roles’. If an employee wants to progress in their field of expertise by accepting a promotion or transferring to a new role, they can be subject to unpredictable hours of work. This will make people leave. There
      is no opportunity to retain valuable and skilled employees.
      This directly contradicts the Town of Whitby’s Community Strategic Plan, that was developed through community engagement and endorsed by Council.
      Strategic Pillar 4: Whitby’s Government (Objective 4.2) says ‘Be the organization that people want to join and build their future’.
    2. ‘The Town also offered an increase in personal days from three to four.’
      Clarification:
      This is not an increase. This ‘extra’ day comes out of an existing benefit.
    3. ‘“…any schedule changes will be communicated with four weeks’ notice as well as consultation with the employee and union.”
      Clarification:
      Consultation is not collaboration. The Town’s corporate core values are We CARE – Collaborative, Accountable, Respectful, Engaged. The union has always successfully collaborated with the employer on schedules.
    4. ‘‘I have received questions from Whitby residents as to whether I can use the Strong Mayor Powers granted by the Province, to force an end to
      this labour disruption.’
      Clarification:
      CUPE 53 has never asked for Mayor Roy to use the Strong Mayor Powers.
      We have asked her to use her Mayoral Powers under the Municipal Act to direct management back to the table to negotiate a fair and respectful deal.We have asked, on multiple occasions, to meet with the Mayor and Council and to date we have not received a response. Mayor Roy and Council are clearly not willing to hear our concerns with the employer’s current offer. It’s worrisome that the information going out on the Town’s corporate website and social media feeds is controlling the information being put out to you, the resident. You are not hearing the whole story.

We encourage residents to stay fully informed by following CUPE 53 on Facebook and Twitter.

And join us in continuing to send messages to the Town of Whitby here: https://cupe.ca/SupportWhitbyMunicipalWorkers

We look forward to getting back to the table on Nov. 10 and 11 with support from an expert mediator. We CARE about this community and want to get back to delivering the services and programs you rely on.

Categories: Municipal, Solidarity