REGINA, SK. - The leaders of 1,700 striking civic workers will make a presentation to city manager Bob Linner tomorrow, Sept. 2, at 10:30 a.m. outside city hall.
The civic unions – the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 588 and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Locals 21 and 7 – plan to present a cheque for $10,000 to the city to pay for the free fares and fees Regina residents enjoyed last week because of the civic workers’ job action.
“We earn every dollar we take from taxpayers,” explains Tim Anderson, president of CUPE Local 21. “So our members want to cover the cost of the free fares and fees.”
Eva McKaeff, president of CUPE Local 7, stressed the cheque does not represent “total compensation,” a reference to the employer’s insistence that its pension contributions be costed to any monetary package provided to workers. “Our members already are paying their share to the pension plan. We’re not prepared to pay the employers’ share too. But we’ll pay for the free admissions and transit rides,” she says.
John McCormick, president of the ATU Local 588, says the civic unions are anxious to return to the bargaining table. “We contacted the city yesterday, encouraging them to come back to the table with a fair offer so we can settle this dispute. So far, we haven’t received a response.”
For more information, contact:
Tim Anderson
(306) 591-0730
John McCormick
(306) 537-5351
Also see: http://www.reginaciviccoalition.ca/