Work stoppage could affect 26,000 employees
Members of the Toronto Civic Employees Union — Local 416 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees — gave the union a strong mandate in support of a work stoppage.
The union represents 6,000 outside workers in Toronto, including garbage collectors. The employees join the city’s 20,000 inside workers — represented by CUPE Local 79 — in their authorization of a walkout if a new contract isn’t reached.
The contracts for both unions expired on Dec. 31.
According to the union, the workers’ support of a strike is crucial in light of the city’s recent move to request a provincial conciliator.
“We are concerned that the city is choosing to take an aggressive approach to bargaining,” said Matt Alloway, a member of the CUPE bargaining committee.
“With this mandate, we are confident that we are in a position to negotiate an agreement that can strengthen the city’s services by providing the workers who deliver those services with good, stable jobs.”
