Toronto – Workers at the Toronto Zoo have achieved a tentative three-year agreement with their employer, following an all-night negotiation session that ended in the early hours of this morning. CUPE Local 1600, which represents the 325 employees at the zoo, will hold a ratification vote on Thursday evening.
“We have definitely come out of this round of negotiations with an improved contract,” said Jim Fudge, president of local 1600. “We have achieved many of the key things that we were looking for, including fair salary increases and augmented benefits.”
Other major achievements include the merging of several previous collective agreements into one. The union and zoo management have also agreed to strike a job evaluation committee that will address some of the wage disparities between workers at the zoo and their counterparts elsewhere in the city.
CUPE represents 180,000 working women and men in Ontario, many of whom work for municipalities, hospitals, school boards and universities.
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For further information:
Jim Fudge, CUPE Local 1600,
416-579-2873 (cell)
Lorne Trevors, CUPE Representative,
905-432-5896 (cell)
Andrea Addario, CUPE Communications,
416-738-4329 (cell)