The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4705 and the City of Greater Sudbury continue to work towards a collective agreement, according to both sides in the negotiations.
The union represents municipal administration staff, infrastructure and public facility workers, public transportation and health employees. About 1,300 workers are affected.
After the May 26 city council meeting, Mayor John Rodriguez said negotiations “are continuing. I will let our negotiating team do their job with the union negotiating team.”
We hope city management will ... stop demanding contract rollbacks that would almost certainly lead to a strike.
Steve Speck, CUPE 4705 president
A statement posted on the union’s website said bargaining between the two parties was to continue with the help of a conciliator until today, June 1.
“We are under a media black out imposed by the conciliator,” Steve Speck, union president, said in an e-mail.
Speck said in an e-mail May 31. “At this time I can make no further comments on the issues due to (the) blackout.”
The union’s website said recent bargaining sessions have been productive.
Earlier this month, the city’s inside workers voted 77 per cent in favour of strike action, while the city’s outside workers voted 97 per cent in favour of strike action, for an average of 87 per cent.
“Our members gave us a solid strike mandate,” Speck said in a May 21 press release.
“We hope city management will take negotiations more seriously, and stop demanding contract rollbacks that would almost certainly lead to a strike.”
According to the union’s press release, a strike or lockout would affect many city services, “including roads maintenance, solid waste (garbage collection), child care, paramedics, by-law enforcement, construction services, citizen service centres, arenas, public transit, libraries, museums, social services, office clerical, building maintenance, water and wastewater, airport maintenance and other services.”
For more information, visit www.cupesudbury.org. Go to NorthernLife.ca for further updates on this story.