Lucas Oleniuk/Toronto Star
Striking municipal worker and picket captain, Bill Steele, stood on the line and praised the rain at the Commissioners Street Transfer Station during Thursday afternoon's deluge. (June 25, 2009)

Stronger together: on strike

Sisters and Brothers

When we entered collec-tive bargaining early this year, we did not imagine that you would be walking picket lines by summer. Flyer

PRESCRIPTION & DENTAL BENEFIT COVERAGE

In the event that you may need to fill any prescriptions or have any dental needs taken care of, you will be required to pay any expenses out of pocket initially.

Receipts must be brought to the Union Office at 110 Laird Drive for forwarding to CUPE National. Upon receipt of your original "official prescription receipt", which includes the DIN number, we will make arrangements with CUPE National for your reimbursement.

You can contact us at 416-968-7721 if you require further details.

Thanks for your ongoing support during these difficult times.

We are on the picket line to defend our collective agreements.

We didn't pick this fight with the City and we hope it won't be a long one.

But that depends on the Mayor and City Council. They need to stop trying to gut our collective agreements and treat City workers fairly and equitably.
Strikes are hard on everyone, but sometimes they are necessary.

Our negotiating committees are at the table, trying to reach a settlement as quickly as possible, but we need to see some real movement from the City.

The City should not be treating us differently from all other unionized workers who provide services to the people of Toronto. Police, firefighters, Toronto Housing, Toronto Parking Authority, Toronto Hydro and Enwave have all achieved fair collective agreements without concessions.

It's about fairness and it's about respect.

Please contact the mayor and your city councillor. Tell them do what it takes to settle this strike.

We work for you Toronto

June 22, 2009 12:44 AM

Local 416 Outside workers walked off the job along with Local 79 Inside workers just after midnight tonight in a fight against management demands for concessions.

"After six months at the bargaining table, the city has not heard the message from our members that they must be treated as fairly as all other unionized workers who provide public services to the people of Toronto," said Mark Ferguson, president of CUPE 416.

"This city cannot treat their direct employees, our members, like second-class citizens," said Ann Dembinski, president of CUPE 79, representing about 18,000 inside workers. "We had two choices - roll over and play dead or stand up and fight for our rights."

In all, 24,000 workers are on strike.Other unionized public employees in the city, ranging from Toronto Community Housing, Parking Authority, and Port Authority to police and firefighters have achieved collective agreements with wage increases of at least 3 per cent and no concessions.

Local416 Twitter Impersonatoion

We have had many inquiries about the Local 416 twitter account. The twitter site is not run by are Local and we are working to have it removed.

City marching us toward strike with concession demands

When your bargaining team requested a ‘no-board' in early June, we hoped that the June 22 strike deadline would focus
discussions.

We hoped that the City would get serious about achieving a deal and take the concessions off the table. So far that
hasn't happened. Flyer

President's Bargaining Update

Transcript of Telephone Message

CUPE National President Paul Moist went to the bargaining table with our full Outside Division negotiating team on Friday, May 29.

After Local 416 President Mark Ferguson presented a key proposal to the employer, Moist spoke forcefully about CUPE members' commitment to providing quality public services to our communities.

CUPE is campaigning from coast to coast to ensure that public services stay strong, he told the City's negotiators. It's a message he will carry as well to municipal politicians gathering next week in Whislter, BC for the annual conference of Federation of Canadian Municipalities

Strike votes send a clear message:no concessions!

Your bargaining teams for Local 416 and Local 79 returned to negotiations this week knowing that they have a clear and strong mandate from the members to reject the employer's demand for concessions.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, Local 416 voted 89% in support of strike action, if necessary.
Local 79 members sent the same message on Sunday with a 90% vote.

There should be no doubt in the minds of the City's negotiators about their next steps - they must
take the concessions off our bargaining tables if
we are going to move forward toward a negotiated
settlement. Flyer

Toronto outside workers give strike mandate, say no to concessions

TORONTO, Ont. - City of Toronto outside workers, members of Toronto Civic Employees Union, CUPE Local 416, have voted 89% to give their negotiating committee a strike mandate in a vote conducted over two days this week.

"We will be going back to the table with a clear message from the membership," said Local 416 President Mark Ferguson. "The City must take its 118 pages of concessions off the table."

Most of the concessions the city has proposed do not cost money, Ferguson said. In fact, monetary issues such as wages have not yet been addressed in negotiations.

"We all know that public services are an important part of the economic recovery," Ferguson said. "The services our members provide are one of the best bargains Toronto residents will ever get.

"It's time for the city's negotiators to recognize that, to stop trying to take away what we have managed to gain through negotiations, a strike in 2002 and rulings by independent arbitrators."

Ferguson said the Local 416 negotiating committee is committed to working toward a negotiated settlement and to trying to avoid a strike. However, he said, the union will not negotiate take-aways.

CUPE Local 79, representing City inside workers, is also at the bargaining table and has scheduled a strike vote for Sunday, May 24, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute.

WHAT IS A/H1N1 FLU?

Recession is no excuse for gutting contract language 
Despite what you might read or hear in the media, there is a lot more at stake in this round of bar-gaining than money. The City has tabled conces-sions at both Local 79 and TCEU Local 416 bargain-ing tables with very little justification. Flyer

Wage freeze is wrong remedy for economic ills Best solution is a negotiated settlement

Different tables, same message, equals bargaining strength