THESSALON Contract talks broke down yesterday between the Town of Thessalon and Local 3 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) after management tabled a long list of concessions.
Our members are preparing for a strike because the Town is trying to gut our collective agreement, says Christine Bird, CUPE National Representative, representing public works, arena and parks workers in the Town of Thessalon.
Conciliation talks broke off after the Town tabled concessions in the areas of benefits, sick leave, retirement allowance, hours of work, callout, and boot allowance as well as a wage rollback.
The last thing we want is a strike that will hurt residents, says Bird. But the Town is pushing for a dispute. We will begin strike preparations and we will be calling on residents to contact the Chair of the personnel committee and local politicians to urge them to get involved and prevent a strike.
CUPE Local 3 members will be in a legal strike position at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, June 25th. Mediation talks have been scheduled for June 21st and June 22nd.
We will do our best to achieve a settlement in mediation talks, says Bird. But if the Town doesnt back away on this attack on workers we wont have much hope.
For further information, please contact:
Christine Bird
CUPE National Representative
Sault Ste. Marie Area Office
705-949-6221
Robert Lamoureux
CUPE Communications
416-292-3999
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