The city has set its crosshairs on the rights of its part-time employees and is refusing to ‘budge' in negotiations, says the heads of two unions poised to take labour action.
Tim Maguire, president of CUPE Local 79, and Maureen O'Reilly, president of CUPE Local 4948, held a joint press conference Wednesday afternoon in which they both expressed frustration with the city's desire to remove a clause, which makes seniority a factor in the assigning of shifts to part-time worker, from any future collective bargaining agreement.
CUPE Local 79 represents "inside workers" including nurses, janitors, ambulance dispatchers, recreation workers, child care workers and urban planners while CUPE 4948 represents public library employees.
Both unions have been without a contract since midnight on Dec. 31.
"The city is looking for greater flexibility in assigning hours and from our perspective that means people who have more experience and more skill will suffer a loss and that could affect the quality of service (delivered)," Maguire told reporters. "We think the city should give respect to its more senior and its more experienced and skill workers."
If the city is successful in removing the seniority provision from its next collective bargaining agreements with CUPE Local 79 and 4948, it would theoretically allow them to save money by having less-experienced and therefore lower-paid workers do the work of more experienced employees.
"The preference of the library board is to have fewer workers, less-skilled workers and lower-paid workers," O'Reilly said. "That is no way to run a library."
Maguire told reporters that he isn't interested in "bargaining in the media", but said he had to do something to draw attention to an issue that according to him, the city is unwilling to negotiate on.
CUPE 79 is next scheduled to negotiate with the city on Thursday while CUPE 4948 will have their next negotiating session with the city on Friday.
"We are talking about these issues to at least draw some attention to them," Maguire said. "We need to have some meaningful discussions. They could have happened last week, but they didn't. They can happen this week."
The city has previously said that neither CUPE 79 or CUPE 4948 have been willing to negotiate.
"No board" report looms
Last week the City of Toronto requested a "no board" report in its negotiations with Local 79. If the Ontario Ministry of Labour approves the city's request, which they are expected to do any day now, it would put the city in a legal lockout position and CUPE Local 79 in a legal strike position after a 17-day negotiating window.
In a press release issued last week Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said the city requested the "no board" report to force the union into actually considering concessions.
A "no board" report has already been issued in the city's negotiations with CUPE 4948 and either side will be able to take labour action March 18.
"The library workers have taken a strike vote and we do have a 91 per cent mandate and that is reflective of the resolve of the library workers to get their issues addressed," O'Reilly told reporters.
Several part-time workers with Local 79 and 4948 joined O'Reilly and Maguire for Wednesday's press conference, speaking to the unique challenges they face as part-time employees.
"What the city is telling me is that all my experience and all the energy that I have given for 15 years isn't worth anything except something I can put on my resume for a job in the private sector," Meaghan Tanaka, a part-time recreation worker, told reporters at Wednesday's news conference.
