TORONTO - Councillor John Filion is taking another stab at locking out Mayor Rob Ford’s handpicked employee and labour relations committee from plunging the city into labour unrest.

Filion wants city council to vote next Wednesday to demand council get final approval before the city starts a lockout or force a strike. The power currently resides with the employee and labour relations committee headed by Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday.

“It’s not a pro-union motion, it is not an anti-Ford motion,” Filion told the Sun Friday. “It takes no position on whether or not a lockout is a good idea.”

CUPE Local 416 president Mark Ferguson has openly speculated Ford’s administration is plotting a January lockout of city workers. Ford loyalists have characterized Filion’s motion as a bid to handcuff the mayor’s ability to start a lockout.

Councillors on the executive committee, including Ford, turned down Filion’s proposal back in October, voting to defer it indefinitely.

Now Filion hopes council will appreciate that the power to “initiate a shutdown of all city services” should be in their hands rather than a select few. He needs two thirds of council to support reversing the executive committee’s decision.

Read More…

(Halifax) – Unionized employees with the Halifax Regional Water Commission have voted strongly in favour of strike action.

CUPE National Representative Marianne Welsh says the members of Local 227 voted 94% in favour of job action in strike votes held yesterday.  Of the 225 workers, 174 voted with 163 voting to support their bargaining committee’s position in this round of contract talks.

Read More…

Barely two weeks into contract negotiations, city hall and its two largest public-sector unions are girding for a prolonged shutdown of municipal services

Sources with knowledge of the preparations have confirmed that the city planning and solid waste departments have met to plan for a January lockout of up to six months while the parks department is training managers to run Zambonis to avoid a prolonged closing of municipal arenas.

The city exchanged a list of demands with CUPE 416 on Oct. 19, launching the negotiation process that union head Mark Ferguson believes will lead to an all-out lockout of unionized city workers.

The city’s 21-page proposal leaves no aspect of the current collective agreement untouched, according to Mr. Ferguson. He revealed that the city’s demands include terminating CUPE’s employment security provisions – disparagingly known as the jobs-for-life clause – as well as amending or deleting facets of the current contract dealing with worker redeployment, layoff and recall rules, job-posting policies and seniority rights.

In addition, the city is asking for a 10-per-cent rollback of employee benefits.

“We are light-years apart,” Mr. Ferguson said. “We came in with a simple three-page set of proposals that were largely geared at protecting what we have. By contrast, the city is looking to either eliminate or amend every facet of the collective agreement.”

The chair of the Employee and Labour Relations Committee, deputy mayor Doug Holyday, refused to get into the specifics of city demands and chalked up Mr. Ferguson’s statements to “sabre-rattling.”

“It’s improper for the union to go negotiating through the media like this,” he said. “If we did that, they’d be crying from the loudest church steeple.”

When asked if the city is preparing for a labour shutdown of up to six months, as sources have suggested, Mr. Holyday said, “It would be irresponsible for us not to avoid the worst. We don’t wish to have a disruption of any services and that’s not something you can do at the last minute. You have to prepare for all eventualities.”

The city’s contracts with its two largest unions, Local 79 and Local 416, expire on Jan. 1. At any time during bargaining, either side can ask the provincial Ministry of Labour to appoint a conciliator. If they remain at an impasse by Jan. 1, the city or the union can ask the province for a “No Board” report, basically an admission of irreconcilable differences. Seventeen days after the province issues that report – Jan. 19 at the earliest – the parties would be in a legal strike or lockout position.

Read More…

MONTREAL – The union representing Air Canada pilots says the airline is attempting to intimidate its members by filing a notice of dispute with the federal government in order to kick-start labour negotiations.

“It’s typical Air Canada bargaining tactics. It’s meant to escalate things. Frankly it’s meant to intimidate,” Paul Strachan, president of the Air Canada Pilots Association, said in an interview Thursday.

The carrier’s 2,900 pilots rejected a tentative agreement by a two-to-one margin in May.

Air Canada has been at odds with several of its main unions during recent negotiations and labour leaders have criticized the federal government of siding with the company.

The Canadian Auto Workers union reached a settlement in the summer for striking Air Canada customer service representatives under threat of being legislated back to work.

The flight attendants union reached two tentative settlements, both rejected by the membership, but they were prevented launching a strike when Labour Minister Lisa Raitt referred the matter to the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

The pilots association has been working over the past six months to prepare proposals that could be the basis for a new negotiated settlement.

Faced with internal political turmoil, it needed the time to replace its executive chairman, reorganize its bargaining team and survey members about what they want in a new deal.

Strachan said the airline accused CUPE-represented flight attendants of not knowing what its members wanted when it rejected a second tentative agreement. Yet it’s rushing pilots to negotiate without having completed that internal review.

“We want to make sure we do it right this time. The last thing we want is another failed ratification vote,” Strachan said.

Last week, the pilots proposed resuming talks in late November, but the Montreal-based carrier caught the ACPA off guard by filing the notice Wednesday.

The carrier said it acted to accelerate a second round of talks with pilots to achieve a negotiated settlement.

“The company is of the view that the involvement of a federally appointed conciliator would facilitate and expedite this second round of negotiation and bring it to a successful conclusion as soon as possible,” said Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick.

But Strachan said it’s not helpful for either side to “bargain with the clock ticking in the background.”

“Now we’ll have to tighten it up and this is where balls get dropped when you start rushing things.”

Air Canada’s (TSX:AC.B) move starts the clock ticking to a potential strike, even though the federal government has threatened to intervene with other employee groups at the airline.

The conciliation process lasts up to 60 days unless extended. The parties have the right to strike or lockout 21 days after conciliation ends and must give 72 hours advance notice.

Read More…

CTVNews.ca Staff

Air Canada is seeking financial compensation from the union representing its 6,800 flight attendants, amid an allegation that union brass have been negotiating in bad faith.

The airline said Thursday afternoon that the Canadian Union of Public Employees hasn’t done enough to ensure that a new contract is ratified by union members, who have been in a long-running dispute with Canada’s largest air carrier.

“Though the company was given assurances of unanimous support from the CUPE leadership for the first tentative agreement, individual base presidents remained silent or expressed views against ratification during the ratification process,” Air Canada stated.

The airline, which has submitted the unfair practice complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, did not say how much it was seeking in compensation.

The salvo is the latest in a bitter labour battle that has pitted the airline against its employees, with the federal government wading in with a controversial decision to quash a potential strike this week.

In response to Ottawa’s intervention, flight attendants staged a noisy protest at the Toronto-area office of Labour Minister Lisa Raitt Thursday, decrying her decision to bar workers from striking.

In a symbolic show of defiance, the protesters at Raitt’s Milton constituency office shouted slogans like “negotiate, don’t legislate,” and held banners carrying messages such as “R.I.P. Labour Rights.”

Flight attendants were due to strike on Thursday morning, after they rejected a deal that union negotiators had brought to them to ratify. It was the second time a deal was rejected.

But before they could walk off the job, Raitt submitted two referrals to the CIRB that suspended the flight attendants’ right to strike.

Raitt’s two referrals ask the board to determine if flight attendants provide essential services, and to consider whether it should impose a settlement or send the dispute to binding arbitration.

Sid Ryan, head of the Ontario Labour Federation, rallied the striking workers at Raitt’s Milton office and said that flight attendants have already made concessions to the airline.

Ryan, an ex-leader of CUPE, pointed to a 20-per-cent wage cut that flight attendants took in 2004.

“The labour movement is always accused, that somehow, the leadership are leading the membership around by the nose,” Ryan said through a megaphone.

“And in this case you’ve proven twice that it’s the membership that are in control, it’s the membership that makes the decisions,” he said, adding that each flight attendant has given back about $8,000 in wages through a series of rollbacks.

Raitt was not at her constituency office, which is about 50 kilometres northwest of Toronto.

Elsewhere, the union representing Air Canada’s 6,800 flight attendants also called for a Thursday demonstration at the Montreal airport, just hours after its members were supposed to be forming a picket line at the very same location.

In advance of Thursday’s planned demonstrations, Air Canada said it was “business as usual” for the airline, as flights were taking off as scheduled.

Read More…

The clock is ticking towards Air Canada’s second strike this year and potentially the big carrier’s most costly labour dispute in 13 years.

Negotiators for the airline and the union representing flight attendants have been meeting since Sept. 1 trying to hammer out a second contract that can win member approval.

Flight attendants overwhelmingly voted to give their union a strike mandate, less than a month after they rejected a previous tentative agreement.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees gave strike notice Friday night meaning the flight attendants will legally be able to walk off the job as early as Wednesday.

Hanging over the heads of the two sides is believed to be a government threat to quickly order an end to a strike that could threaten the country’s weakened economic recovery.

Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt has invited both sides to a meeting if they can’t hammer out a deal this weekend.

“If there is no progress after this weekend, I intend on meeting with both parties face-to-face Monday in Ottawa,” Ms. Raitt said in an email.

“I had a conference call with parties Wednesday evening. My message was that we want them to get a deal that can be ratified by membership. And if they can’t get a deal then I asked them to find a process to get them to a deal.

“Both parties understand the effect that a work stoppage has on the economy and will work hard to get a deal.”

A three-day strike in June by Air Canada customer service agents ended after they reached a deal once the government tabled back-to-work legislation.

The precedent created by the government appears to have reduced the anxiety of some passengers planning last-minute trips next week.

Rivals such as WestJet Airlines and Porter Airlines say they have not seen any substantial increase in bookings as Air Canada customers seek alternative transportation.

“We do have the ability to add some capacity (extra flights) if it becomes necessary… but so far, we haven’t seen any increase in calls or bookings as a result of this situation,” said Robert Palmer, spokesman for the Calgary-based airline.

Brad Cicero of Porter Airlines added that there is “currently no change in the booking pattern.”

Business passengers have greater flexibility to change flights if there is a strike. But leisure travellers with firm bookings in the coming days may be concerned about plans being disrupted, said Robert Kokonis, president of airline consulting firm AirTrav Inc.

Read More…

Air Canada flight attendants are asking for a federal conciliator to assist in negotiations with the airline. The Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, on behalf of its over 6,800 flight attendant members at the airline, filed its request with the Federal Mediations and Conciliation Services after reaching an impasse on several key issues with the airlines management.

“The union’s proposals have been fair, but Air Canada seems intent on pushing for unreasonable concessions from its flight attendants,” said Jeff Taylor, president of the AC Component of CUPE. “We are left with no choice but to ask for a conciliator’s assistance in the hopes they will help us and Air Canada find some common ground.”

The collective agreement between the flight attendants and Air Canada expired last March. Negotiations for a new contract have been underway since April 6, and all proposals from both parties have been presented.

The union proposals included fair wage increases and much needed improvements in working conditions. Air Canada is demanding several concessions which would increase workloads, reduce health benefits, and make drastic changes to the pension plan.

Read More…

The city and its largest union have exactly two weeks to reach a deal before the strike or lockout deadline.

Representatives from the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 5167 will be in a legal strike position as of Saturday, June 18. On that date, the city will also be able to legally lock out CUPE employees.

Negotiations have stalled over wage increases for CUPE local’s 3,200 employees — roughly 40 per cent of the city’s 8,000-member workforce. The city’s best offer is a 1 per cent increase in each of the next four years. CUPE’s counter-offer is a 4.25 per cent increase over two years.

City councillors set a firm precedent for fiscal conservatism earlier this year when they approved a 0.8 property tax increase, the lowest since amalgamation. Around the council table, they have also repeatedly stated that during October’s municipal election campaign, voters overwhelmingly asked for belt-tightening at City Hall.

However, other municipalities that have made deals with unions over the past six months have settled on wage increases that are closer to CUPE’s offer than the city’s.

Frederick Ho, a CUPE national representative, said the 2 per cent mark is about the average for recent union wage increases across the province.

“We do see a very consistent pattern in terms of settlements in and around 2 per cent in the municipal sector,” he said. “The broad trends are pretty clear.”

Kingston, York Region, Barrie, Markham and Brantford are among the cities that offered unionized employees at least two per cent a year for the next three years. On the higher end of the spectrum are Markham and York Region, whose union employees will receive 2.35 per cent in year one and two of their contracts and three per cent in the third year.

London, which settled with two CUPE units in December, offered an increase that’s slightly lower than the 2 per cent trend. In the first year, members’ pay will stay the same. In each of the following three years, members will receive 1.9 per cent.

The average wage increase for the private sector is also around 2 per cent.

Read More…

THE University of Manitoba’s 850 teaching assistants, markers, lab assistants and tutors are being urged to reject the university’s contract offer in a vote today.

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3909 is urging its members to reject the deal, which calls for a two-year wage freeze, followed by two annual increases of 2.9 per cent a year.

U of M public affairs director John Danakas said the offer that the university asked CUPE to put before its members is consistent with deals that professors and other bargaining units have accepted.

But Local 3909 president Matt McLean said some bargaining units are getting some money in the second year, and other campus bargaining units get benefit increases — his members get none. With budget cuts across campus, “People have been asked to do more work with less hours,” McLean said.

McLean said that members get 60 to 80 hours work per semester, and get paid about $3,000 for a full academic year. Those with an undergraduate degree get $19.32 an hour, those still working on their first degree get $17.57.

There are no increments, he said: “The wage you make the first day is the wage you’ll make forever.”

Sessional lecturers are members of Local 3909, but are covered by a separate agreement. They are not involved in the current talks.

If members reject the contract offer, CUPE will ask the province to appoint a conciliation officer, McLean said. There are no immediate plans to go on strike.

Read More…

COURTENAY, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwire – April 27, 2011) - Last night, the city workers of Courtenay, represented by CUPE 556, voted 92 per cent to strike for fairness and respect on the job. Despite huge budget surpluses, exorbitant managerial wages and substantial boosts to private contractor pay, the city workers are frustrated by the employer’s argument that they cannot afford to properly compensate city workers.

“Everyone deserves a fair share,” says Melissa Moroz, CUPE National representative and negotiator for CUPE 556. “City workers are a proud part of what makes Courtenay work and it only makes sense that they should also be fairly compensated during a time of large budget surpluses and rising costs of living.”

CUPE 556 has produced and is distributing a list of Financial Facts (http://www.cupe.bc.ca/sites/default/files/Financial%20facts.pdf) about the City of Courtenay to help dispel the employer’s argument that the refusal to offer a fair contract and support public services is driven by financial concerns. Some interesting facts include:

• In 2010, the actual budget surplus was $3.6 million, almost $2 million more than projected.
• Garbage and recycling fees to the public have been increased (5.4 per cent since 2010) to profit the private contractor doing collection (Emterra).
• Senior staff are compensated generously (Administrator, $170,167 in 2009 with almost $10,000 in additional expenses) and a disproportionate amount of wage increases go to staff making over $75,000 a year.
• The 2011 budget once again forecasts a surplus of $1.93 million.

Courtenay city workers are seeking a 3 per cent increase in every year of the contract, as well as improvements ensuring the fair distribution of work.

CUPE 556 represents approximately 80 inside and outside workers in the city of Courtenay.

Read More…