2009 City of Toronto inside and outside workers strike
Encyclopedia
The 2009 City of Toronto inside and outside workers strike (also known as the 2009 Toronto strike) was a legal strike action
that was undertaken by the Toronto Civic Employees Union, a subsidiary of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
in the city of Toronto
.
It involved approximately 24,000 city employees.
According to the CBC, the main issues were regard changes to job security, seniority and the banking of sick days. The previous contract allowed some union members to bank unused sick days and cash them out upon retirement. The city proposed contract was to disallow the practise.
CUPE Local 79 President, Ann Dembinski was quoted as saying "This is about getting a fair deal similar to what everyone else got. Everyone else was able to negotiate a collective agreement without huge takeaways. These are huge concessions. No other City of Toronto workforce has had to negotiate any concessions in order to get a collective agreement."
Union members from Local 416 and Local 79 work in various departments within the city and the work stoppage affected many services including:
and rodenticide spraying and odour and leaching caused by the piles of garbage. Junk removal entrepreneurs took the opportunity to increase their customer base, specifically because plenty of residents were left without options to deal with their trash.
The final vote by the council on the agreement put forward by the mayor resulted in 21 "yes" votes, 18 "no" votes, and 6 absences.
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
that was undertaken by the Toronto Civic Employees Union, a subsidiary of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
Canadian Union of Public Employees
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well...
in the city of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
It involved approximately 24,000 city employees.
Background
On June 22 at midnight Toronto municipal workers belonging to 2 separate unions (CUPE Local 416 - representing the outside workers, and CUPE Local 79 - representing the inside workers) went on strike following six months negotiating with the municipality over contract renewal.Issues
The union said that the main issue for the strike was requests, from the city, for concessions from the union in the new contract.According to the CBC, the main issues were regard changes to job security, seniority and the banking of sick days. The previous contract allowed some union members to bank unused sick days and cash them out upon retirement. The city proposed contract was to disallow the practise.
CUPE Local 79 President, Ann Dembinski was quoted as saying "This is about getting a fair deal similar to what everyone else got. Everyone else was able to negotiate a collective agreement without huge takeaways. These are huge concessions. No other City of Toronto workforce has had to negotiate any concessions in order to get a collective agreement."
Services Affected
- Garbage Collection - from single detached dwellings, low-rise residential dwellings and some small commercial businesses. (Exception: Former City of Etobicoke which contracted out services before amalgamation).
- Parks and Recreation - including City run pools and Recreation Facilities, grass cutting in parks, summer programmes. Toronto Island ferry servicesToronto Island Ferry ServicesThe Toronto Island Ferry connects the Toronto Islands in Lake Ontario to the mainland of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The ferry provides access to the islands for recreational visitors, access to the mainland for island residents, and access to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which is located at...
halted for visitors and residents - City run daycare facilities.
- Municipal Licensing - including building permits, signage permits, taxi cab licenses and burlesque licenses. Marriage licenses are not affected.
- Public Heath - including regular health inspections of restaurants, public pools, city beaches, city run health clinics and dental offices
- Toronto EMSToronto EMSToronto Emergency Medical Services is the statutory Emergency medical services provider for the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The service is operated directly as a branch of the municipal government as an independent, third-service option provider, which means that the service is funded by...
- Ambulance Service running at 75% capacity with priority calls unaffected. - Water Supply/Water Treatment
- Animal Services
Garbage Collection
The cessation of garbage collection was one of the more noticeable effects of the labour disruption. Four days into the strike the city announced 19 temporary garbage drop off locations for residential waste. This decision proved controversial in neighbourhoods with the sites as residents expressed concerned about pesticidePesticide
Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
and rodenticide spraying and odour and leaching caused by the piles of garbage. Junk removal entrepreneurs took the opportunity to increase their customer base, specifically because plenty of residents were left without options to deal with their trash.
Final Resolution
On July 27, after extensions to a union-imposed midnight deadline to reach an agreement, CUPE local 416 President Mark Ferguson announced that the union had "the basis for a deal" with the City of Toronto. Ferguson exhorted the city to turn its attention to resolving outstanding issues with the city's inside workers represented by 416's sister local, local 79.The final vote by the council on the agreement put forward by the mayor resulted in 21 "yes" votes, 18 "no" votes, and 6 absences.
See also
- 2009 City of Windsor inside and outside workers strike2009 City of Windsor inside and outside workers strikeThe 2009 City of Windsor inside and outside workers strike was a stop-work action undertaken by the Canadian Union of Public Employees' local unions in the city of Windsor, Ontario held from April 15, 2009 to July 24, 2009. The over 15 week-long strike was the result of a proposal by the city to...
- Mayor David MillerDavid Miller (Canadian politician)David Raymond Miller is a Canadian politician. He was the 63rd Mayor of Toronto and the second since the 1998 amalgamation. He was elected to the position in 2003 for a three-year term and re-elected in 2006 for a four-year term...