CUPE Newfoundland Labrador

Grand Falls-Windsor municipal workers rally at Town Hall

Municipal workers at the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor were shocked and disappointed to find out on Facebook last night that the employer has imposed a lock out.

CUPE National Representative Nicole Dunphy says the 90+ members of CUPE Local 1349 were hoping the employer would be calling them back to the table. “Instead, we saw managers and supervisors loading Town vehicles and equipment into trucks and trailers last night,” she says. “They did not even have the courtesy to inform the union before making the announcement on Facebook. That shows a complete lack of respect for the employees and for the town.” Union members unanimously rejected the Town’s final offer last week and had asked to return to negotiations.

CUPE 1349 President Tammie Greening says while info pickets will go up, the union will do its best not to disrupt community activities.  “We will try not to affect weekly children’s programs,” she says.  “We have a good rapport with our community groups, and we hope they won’t be asked to take on any of our work.  However, if the Town or anyone else performs work that belongs to our bargaining unit you can expect to see picket lines at that site.”

Greening says the members respect the relationships they have with most of the supervisors, but Council’s actions have put a strain on those relationships. “Supervisors are caught in the middle,” she says. “We hope that when we return to work after this forced stoppage, we will be able to resume our good relationships.”

Greening says she is also concerned the employer might try to use student workers as pawns. “We have worked side-by-side with students for years as they perform some of our bargaining unit work,” she says. “The Town should not involve them in this dispute, but rather offer their labour to volunteer groups in the community.

“We are very sorry and apologize to residents and businesses that this couldn’t be resolved at the bargaining table. But we have not given up hope that the employer will sit down with us and resume negotiations.” Greening says. “The ball is in their court.”

St. John’s – In a move that some may consider to be blackmail, the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor is using municipal workers’ health as a bargaining chip, say representatives of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). “It’s distasteful and it demonstrates the contempt that the mayor and managers in this town have for municipal workers,” says CUPE Representative Ed White.

CUPE 1349 received a letter yesterday from their employer, which proposes that the Town will allow the union to pay, in full, monthly premiums for group health insurance for unionized employees – if the union agrees that members who work as fire dispatchers continue to work during a lockout or strike.

Paying all health premiums for members during a lockout or strike is standard practice for CUPE.

“Our response is ‘no’ and here’s why. The Town has volunteer firefighters who can be sent out to the scene of a fire. Even those volunteers who are members of our union have said they will continue to fight fires during a lockout or strike,” says White. “Dispatchers, however, are not deemed ‘essential’.”

“Under no circumstances should an employer threaten workers and their families with loss of health benefits. No other municipality in Newfoundland and Labrador, that we know of, has ever stooped this low,” says White.

Bargaining between the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor and municipal employees represented by the CUPE 1349 have reached an impasse. The union has informed the employer that they will not be responding to the latest proposal package. A consultant from Halifax, hired by the Town to conduct bargaining on their behalf, will be filing an application for conciliation with the provincial department of labour.

CUPE 1349 President Tammie Greening says, “We’ve been at this since October and, up to this point, there hasn’t been any discussion on monetary items, it has mostly been language related.”

“Most of the proposals from the employer are concessionary in nature,” says CUPE National Representative Ed White. “We have a ‘no concession’ policy set out by our national union and we will continue to defend the provisions that were fairly negotiated in previous rounds of bargaining.”

“As a resident of Grand Falls-Windsor and as a worker, I’m greatly concerned about the direction Council has taken in this round of bargaining,” says Greening. “We will be meeting with our members Thursday evening to bring them up to date.”

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1349 represents approximately 100 members employed by the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor. They work in recreation services, fire dispatch, administration, taxation and finance, road maintenance, water and sewage, municipal enforcement, and engineering and planning.