Edmonton applies for lockout vote in response to city workers’ union strike vote
There’s been an update to labour negotiations between the City of Edmonton and the Civic Service Union (CSU 52) that represents thousands of city employees, including 911 operators, 311 agents, safety and building code officers, recreation centre employees, animal welfare co-ordinators, tax assessors and librarians.
On Feb. 8, the city applied to the Alberta Labour Relations Board for approval of a lockout poll (vote).
“This is in response to CSU 52 applying for and holding a strike vote,” a spokesperson for the city told Global News on Friday.
“The city does not plan to lockout CSU 52 members unless it is required to minimize and manage the disruption a strike is causing to city services and the impact to Edmontonians.”
The union will not be commenting until after the strike vote.
At the end of January, CSU 52 held several emergency meetings with members as contract negotiations with the city stalled. The union said it would apply to the Alberta Labour Relations Board for a strike vote after the 14-day cooling-off period, that ended Jan. 30.
“We are left with no other option than to take a strike vote,” CSU 52 president Lanny Chudyk said on Jan. 22. “While city council has taken a 4.8 per cent raise over the last two years, they are leaving city employees with their fifth year without a raise. Our membership cannot afford to strike, but they also cannot afford to bear the brunt of this injustice any longer.”
CSU 52 represents more than 6,000 technical, professional, administrative and clerical workers within the City of Edmonton and Edmonton Public Library including police communications (911 operators), DATS schedulers, 311 support agents, city planners, safety code and building code officers, permit processors, recreation centre employees, animal welfare co-ordinators, tax assessors, librarians, pages and professional services.
“If the union chose to go on strike — CSU 52 touches just about every service that the city offers in one way or another, not always directly, but in some related way — so, I think we’d see the impact on almost every service the city provides,” Ward pihêsiwin Coun. Tim Cartmell said on Jan. 22.
“Some of the services are critical so they would continue in some way. Some of them are less critical, so they might not,” he explained.
“I’d like to see us get to a point where we don’t see a strike or other job action, but this is part of the labour negotiating process. So, if this is a step that needs to be taken, in the union’s view, to get to an agreed-upon settlement, then that’s their prerogative,” Cartmell said.
Since then, the situation has devolved.
In a Feb. 6 email to city employees that was shared with Global News, the city told employees that it was taking steps to allow workers to vote on the “best and final offer” provided to the union during mediation and that the decision was made because the union did not bring the offer to its members to decide on.
Therefore, the city is asking the Alberta Labour Relations Board to hold a proposal vote with union members on the city’s offer. If the majority of members vote yes, it would avoid a strike or lockout, the city explained.
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