CUPE filed for conciliation on January 3
Sault Ste Marie workers have voted 100 per cent in support of strike action, according to a news release from the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
The current collective agreement expires on Jan. 31 and their bargaining committee filed for conciliation on Jan. 3, the release said.
That means the Department of Labor will appoint a conciliation officer to meet with the workers’ negotiating committee and city management to try to help the two sides reach an agreement, the release said.
“During the storms, nothing in the Sault had to be shut down, and that’s because of the work of CUPE workers, who are the winter crews of this city,” said Marco Nero, president of CUPE Local 3. “The snow removal crews really went above and beyond , even if we’re understaffed like we are.’
“We cleared 24,000 kilometers of roads in a four-day period – the same distance as driving to and from Key West, Florida four times – plowing roads and sidewalks to make sure people can get where they need to go Nero added. “Even now, snow removal is done 24 hours a day, seven days a week so that city streets can be opened to their normal size.
“In each of the last four years, city workers have only had wage increases of two percent or less,” Niro said. “With inflation reaching eight per cent at times last year, most of the pay rises we received have already been eaten up, meaning my colleagues and I are no further ahead than we were in 2019, while spending on basic things – like food and filling up the gas tank – have gone up quite a bit since then.”
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