As the City of Barrie’s council members prepare to hold a special committee meeting later today with management to discuss the status of bargaining talks with their municipal workers, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing the 532 inside and outside municipal workers, is urging council to send a positive signal to management to bargain fairly and avert a possible service shutdown as early as August 9.
“All our members are looking for is a fair deal so we can continue to provide important public services for the residents of Barrie,” said Al McLean, president of CUPE 2380. “We are urging council to tell management to come back to the bargaining table on Wednesday with an intention of settling with a fair contract offer to avert a service shutdown that will affect the public services that families in our community rely on.”
The municipal workers provide public services ranging from parks and recreational services, water and wastewater treatment, public works, court house services, financial and administration services, city planning, by-law enforcement, building and marina services, and others. The workers’ last contract expired December 31, 2012.
“We take pride in our work and, in the past, we had a good working relationship with management and council, so it is indeed unfortunate that we find ourselves in a possible lockout or strike situation,” continued McLean.
“Our goal is to negotiate a fair contract so our members can focus on what they do best – providing the best possible public services in our community. We are urging council to adopt the same attitude and reach a settlement and avert a possible service shutdown.”
Mediation talks, with the assistance of a provincially- appointed mediator, are scheduled for Wednesday, July 31.
For more information, please contact:
Chris Sax, CUPE National Representative, 705-716-0698
James Chai, CUPE Communications, 905-739-3999