Strike Looms June 25<Sup>Th </Sup>For City Of Sudbury Municipal Workers

Wednesday, June 9, 1999

Sudbury 005400680065 people who run Sudbury’s transit, parks, municipal offices and garbage collection are set to walk off the job at 12:01 am on June 25^th if the City doesn’t back away from concessions that would gut workers’ benefits. The City’s 400 members, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), voted 88% in favour of strike action last week, and conciliation talks have failed to resolve the impasse.

“The last thing our members want is a strike,” says John Simoneau, president of CUPE Local 6, which represents the outside workers. “But the City’s management team has consistently come back with a list of concessions, including a move to gut our benefits.”

“Our members have always been reasonable and supportive of Municipal Council in the past, helping them find savings through productivity improvements and service delivery efficiencies,” says Wyman MacKinnon, president of CUPE Local 207, representing inside clerical and office workers. “The thanks we get is an attack on our benefits to try and save 200,000 dollars, when the union has already helped the City save millions.”

“Transit workers have improved route allocation and helped the City get the most out of its transportation budget,” says Rick Holman, president of CUPE Local 1662, representing Sudbury transit workers. “We haven’t seen a municipal strike in this town since 1972, in large part because our members care so much about the services we provide. Now we’ve yet to see a monetary offer from the city and they won’t back away from gutting our benefits.”

Sudbury municipal workers gave a strong strike mandate to the negotiating committee, giving them the authority to call a strike if necessary to fight concessions. A strike would close all municipal offices, suspend transit services and parks, arena and other maintenance in the City.

For further information, please visit the CUPE Sudbury web site, or contact:

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