OVERVIEW
CUPE’s approximately 170,000 members in the municipal sector work in water, roads, planning, public health, childcare and more. They make up just over 20% of CUPE’s membership and are identified primarily as “inside” or “outside” workers. CUPE municipal members do work that touches the lives of most Canadians every day – from waste removal to snow removal to water treatment.
CUPE has over 1,100 municipal bargaining units across Canada, covering more than 20,000 job classifications. About one-third of local government staff work in casual, part-time or auxiliary jobs. Of the other two-thirds, about 20% work in seasonal positions averaging nine months of the year. Women aged 25-54 working in part-time, auxiliary or casual positions are the fastest-growing group in the sector.
There are more than 3,500 municipalities across Canada, each governed by elected mayors and councillors. For some services – like water and wastewater treatment or other large infrastructure functions – municipalities are grouped together in higher-tier regions or counties. Municipalities and the laws governing them are created and regulated at the provincial level.
ISSUES
Precarious work and artificial intelligence (AI)
CUPE locals report a shift to more precarious work over the past 15 years. Municipalities are replacing full-time jobs with part-time temporary jobs that lack full access to benefits and pensions. Many CUPE members are working multiple precarious jobs to make ends meet. Employers are using the retirement of the baby boomers’ generation to further reduce the workforce by leaving jobs unfilled, or to replace good jobs with contract positions. This has led to workplaces with two-tiered pay and benefits.
The use of AI by municipalities across Canada is increasing. It is often pitched as a cost-saving measure, but municipalities need to be aware of hidden costs, the potential for deteriorating public services, and issues around data privacy. Municipalities need to ensure their services are accessible to all, including seniors and lower-income people who might prefer, or require, in-person service. Municipalities must also be aware of the environmental impacts of AI data centres, and the potential for significantly higher water and energy costs.
CUPE has prepared materials to help locals prepare and bargain for protections against AI.
Privatization
In many communities, municipal services are at risk of being contracted out and privatized. Targets include water and wastewater treatment and distribution, waste removal, parks maintenance, transportation and snow removal. In cities like Winnipeg and Toronto, privatized solid waste collection has resulted in deteriorating service quality, hidden costs and violations of basic labour and health and safety standards. At the same time, in other communities the veneer of privatization seems to be wearing off. Municipalities that have rejected privatization include White Rock, BC (drinking water), Wood Buffalo, AB (transit services), and Moncton, NB (wastewater treatment) under a previous administration.
CUPE members in the municipal sector demonstrate every day why quality public service provision is preferable to out-sourced, for-profit contracts.
Infrastructure
Canada’s cities and towns are facing an infrastructure crisis caused by aging infrastructure, increased demand due to population growth, and external pressures like climate change. Municipalities own and are responsible for nearly 60% of public infrastructure, much of which is aging and in dire need of upgrading or replacement. The International Institute for Sustainable Development estimates that the combined infrastructure deficit is between $150 billion and $1 trillion.
Municipalities are under tremendous pressure when it comes to housing. In addition to a lack of affordable housing, municipalities face a backlog of aging housing-related infrastructure that is costly to repair, like public transit and water and wastewater infrastructure. Municipalities cannot pay for necessary upgrades without provincial and federal support, and existing systems alone cannot support future growth.
The recently elected federal government, under Prime Minister Carney, seems to be in favour of increasing the private sector’s investment and influence in public services. Combined with the threats posed by the Trump administration in the United States, our public infrastructure and natural resources are extremely vulnerable, and municipalities, their workers, and residents are at the forefront of these challenges.
To build and operate infrastructure – both the hard infrastructure that powers and organizes our communities, as well as the “soft” infrastructure that cares for and nourishes residents – municipalities need direct funding and low-cost financing from the federal government. That is the fastest and most cost-effective model for building the strong, safe, and inclusive communities we all want to live in.
Municipal revenue
Our local governments need a fairer share of provincial and federal tax revenues to address the infrastructure deficit, to deal with their growing responsibilities, to ensure and enforce public health, and to pay for proper operations and maintenance. CUPE supports municipalities in their quest for a better deal on municipal revenue options and will be engaged with further research, discussions and advocacy on this issue. In 2024, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities released their case for a Municipal Growth Framework, which CUPE fully supports. The federal government must modernize the fiscal framework governing municipalities so that it makes sense for the challenges of the 21st century.
BARGAINING
Bargaining structure
CUPE is the main union representing local government workers across Canada. CUPE has organized most major centres, including Canada’s ten largest cities.
Municipal locals bargain with their municipal council. Many municipalities have more than one CUPE local, representing different parts of the public sector such as inside and outside workers. In some larger urban areas, CUPE locals represent members of more than one municipality. For example, in the York Region, CUPE 905 represents members in ten Ontario municipalities. A similar situation exists in Metro Vancouver.
CUPE locals in BC, Alberta, and Ontario coordinate by bargaining sector or region. Many locals successfully use “lead local” strategies. In recent years, locals in Alberta and Prince Edward Island have made gains using the lead local strategy.
Like other public sector workers, municipal workers face a misperception, promoted by employer organizations, that public servants have good pay, great benefits and easy jobs. This campaign of misinformation makes it difficult to take the hard bargaining stand necessary to achieve significant gains, especially in periods of high inflation. In addition, austerity budgets in many provinces add to the challenges for municipal locals at the bargaining table.
Contracting out and job security
At the bargaining table, municipal employers are trying to enable contracting out by weakening job security language or strengthening management rights clauses. In 2024, the City of St. Catharines municipal local fought off an attempt by the City to contract out the forestry department. CUPE members in a number of municipalities have had department-by-department core service reviews, which are often a precursor to privatization. These reviews often recommend nothing other than unnecessary cuts to important services for the sake of saving a few dollars, and CUPE municipal locals have led the push-back against these austerity programs.
Wages
Despite challenges in municipal bargaining, CUPE settlements continue to win wage increases. High levels of inflation and cost of living diminish these gains, making strong bargaining campaigns even more important. Municipal locals also continue to gain incremental improvements to benefits plans. We oppose proposals that inequitably benefit current versus new employees, creating two-tiered compensation packages and damaging worker solidarity.
Pensions
CUPE’s municipal locals have worked to ensure a high level of retirement security, with over 96% of members eligible to enroll in a pension or employer-contributed retirement plan. Three-quarters of those members have a defined benefit plan.
Many municipal employees are members of large, multi-employer defined benefit pension plans, like the Municipal Pension Plan in BC and the Municipal Employees Benefit Program in Manitoba. Nearly one-fifth of CUPE members are enrolled in the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), where CUPE has led efforts to strengthen workers’ role in plan governance. These plans are strong and sustainable. CUPE continues to defend against attacks on defined benefit pension plans, and to ensure members have a real voice at pension tables.
CAMPAIGNS
At the national level, CUPE works with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and other stakeholder groups on common issues. With the Council of Canadians, CUPE advocates for the protection of municipal water resources and against the privatization of water and wastewater services. CUPE municipal members have been involved in the Blue Communities campaign, which asks municipalities to reject privatization, recognize water as a human right, eliminate punitive water service disconnection policies for residents who are unable to pay, and stop using bottled water in public buildings and at public events.
Municipal elections are very important for CUPE members working in the sector. Our municipal councils influence the quality of our lives in our communities and at work. CUPE members work closely with other labour organizations to elect municipal officials who will protect and enhance public services and public service delivery. We can truly say, “Vote as if your job depended on it!”