City, CUPE reach agreement; negotiations with transit union continue

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This article was published 19/05/2015 (4126 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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One down and one to go.

City hall has reached a tentative agreement with its largest union, even as talks drag out with its transit drivers and bus mechanics.

Mike Davidson, president of CUPE Local 500 confirmed that the city reached a tentative agreement with his union last week.

Details of the agreement will not be released until CUPE 500 members are informed and vote on the package, he said.

Local 500 represents about 4,600 civic employees.

“It was a tough round of bargaining,” Davidson said, adding the union’s bargaining team is recommending acceptance of the tentative agreement.

Local 500 will hold an information session for its members June 1 at the Winnipeg RBC Convention Centre. Members will vote on the deal June 2.

CUPE members have been without a contract since the last agreement expired Dec. 27.

Meanwhile, with the CUPE deal apparently out of the way, city negotiators are sitting down with their transit union counterparts today, aided by a provincially-appointed conciliator.

Local 1505 of the Amalgamated Transit Union launched its work-to-rule campaign April 27, with a ban on voluntary overtime.

The union claims the overtime ban has resulted in late bus routes and a large number of transit buses sitting idle in need of repairs.

A city spokeswoman confirmed the union’s overtime ban has impacted the availability of drivers and affected bus maintenance.

The main issue is wages for drivers and mechanics.

The last ATU contract was a four-year agreement that expired Jan. 17.

The transit union represents 1,100 bus operators and 250 maintenance workers.

 

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca