City workers to vote on labour agreement Monday

Toronto’s outside workers will vote on a labour agreement Monday and the union’s president is recommending his members ratify the deal.

The tentative deal was struck with the city on Sunday, but terms of the collective agreement for the nearly 6,000 members of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 416 members haven’t been disclosed.

The ratification vote will take place on Feb. 13, CUPE said in a statement.

Union president Mark Ferguson said because of the “exceptional circumstances” during bargaining, members should approve the agreement.

When the tentative agreement was reached, Ferguson said CUPE was forced to make “numerous concessions.”

“You just need to look towards what we were up against: an administration that was not interested in getting to a deal,” he said. “They did want to get to a deal after all.”

Mayor Rob Ford’s mood was buoyant at a news conference Sunday morning.

“I can tell you that it’s a great day, an absolutely fantastic day, for the taxpayers of this great city,” he said, adding he was confident council would approve the deal.

City manager Joe Pennachetti concurred.

Here’s a list of terms the city would have forced on outside workers if an agreement hadn’t been reached on Feb. 5:

•    Changing the so-called “jobs for life” provision to only cover workers with 22 years seniority, versus the current 10-year mark.

•    Make changes to layoff and recall processes. The city said no CUPE workers have been laid off since 1999.

•    Change sick–pay plan . The current average number of sick days taken for CUPE workers is 13.4 and the city thinks that is too high.

•    Changes to benefits coverage. The city will only cover 95 per cent of drug costs, compared to the current 100 per cent. City will only provide $400 worth of eyeglasses coverage, compared to current $450

•    Change policy when it comes to leaves of absence for union unit chairs. The city pays full cost when CUPE’s eight unit chairs leave work to attend union business. City only wants to pay half.

•    Wage improvements over four years of 1.25 per cent for 2012, 1.5 per cent in 2013, 1.75 per cent in 2014 and a 1.75 per cent base wage increase in 2015.

Negotiations continue with the city’s inside workers’ union, CUPE Local 79. That union represents about 23,000 workers whose contract also expired Dec. 31, 2011. There’s been no request for a No Board report from either side in those talks.

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