TORONTO – Toronto outside workers, members of the Toronto Civic Employees’ Union, Local 416 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), have voted to ratify a tentative agreement negotiated between Local 416 and the City of Toronto on July 10th. Ratification votes were held Wednesday, July 13th, and Thursday, July 14th, with results this evening showing 93 per cent in favour of the contract.
“We are very pleased our members have ratified their first negotiated collective agreement without a strike or arbitration since the amalgamation of Toronto,” said Local 416 president Brian Cochrane. “We would like to thank Toronto residents for their support and encouragement during the negotiation process. Our goal was always to negotiate a contract without a strike and we now have a collective agreement that is good for our members and good for residents.”
The four-year deal includes wage increases of 2.75 per cent, 3 per cent, 3.25 per cent, 3.25 per cent, and improvements in job security, lay-off and recall, seniority and service, and benefits. The deal must also be ratified by Toronto City Council.
“The 93 per cent vote shows our negotiators were in tune with the priorities of our members in securing a fair collective agreement, and we thank members for expressing their strong support for our efforts,” said Cochrane.
Local 416 represents 6,000 outside workers in Toronto, including water/wastewater workers, paramedics (EMS), solid waste workers, parks and recreation workers, corporate services and transportation workers. Local 416 also represents 2,400 library workers, who recently negotiated a tentative agreement with the Toronto Public Library.
For further information, please contact:
Brian Cochrane
President, Local 416
(416) 968-7721
(416) 562-2543 (cell)
Robert Lamoureux
CUPE Communications
(416) 292-3999