With near-unanimous member support, CUPE 905 urges City of Markham to “come prepared to bargain”

Following a week in which the City of Markham’s ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ municipal workers gave their bargaining committee a near-unanimous mandate to take whatever steps are necessary to achieve a fair contract, the unit chair for Local 905 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 905) urged their employer to “come prepared to bargain” when the two sides return to the negotiating table.

“Our members have spoken loudly and clearly, and when our collective bargaining resumes, I sincerely hope our employer got the message and will come prepared to bargain,” said Dave Davies, CUPE 905 Unit Chair for the City of Markham’s inside and outside workers.

In the aftermath of several days of unproductive bargaining, the Provincial Ministry of Labour, last week, appointed a conciliation officer who will assist the union and the employer when bargaining resumes.

Earlier, workers from the inside and outside units voted 96 per cent in favour of giving their bargaining committee a mandate to take whatever steps they feel are necessary to achieve a fair collective agreement, up to and including strike action, if necessary.

“Going forward, we hope both parties can move forward and conduct our bargaining in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation,” said Davies.