The president of the union representing more than 20,000 inside municipal workers says he is prepared to negotiate into the weekend to hammer out a deal with the City of Toronto.
CUPE 79 President Tim Maguire provided an update on contract negotiations on Friday afternoon and said talks are still moving slowly.
“We are going to continue working tonight, late into tonight, over the weekend if we have to,” Maguire said.
“I think it would be overly optimistic to suggest that there is going to be a deal tonight without the city moving forward on major impediments to getting deals that respect the needs of our members,” he said.
The union head said the bargaining team is continuing to push to protect employment security and is asking the city to improve the stability of scheduling for part-time workers.
It has been one week since the original strike deadline passed and as part of the union’s work-to-rule campaign launched Monday, workers are taking all scheduled breaks and are refraining from doing any duties beyond ones specifically listed in their job descriptions.
City-run child care centres and other city offices remain open.
CUPE Local 416, the union representing the city’s outside workers, ratified its new collective agreement early this morning and Mayor John Tory previously said that CUPE 79’s agreement can’t be “too far off” what was offered to outside workers.
Maguire has maintained that the unions are distinct and therefore have different needs that must be met in their respective collective agreements.
