BREAKING NEWS: Union for Toronto’s inside workers calls strike vote for Tuesday

The union representing Toronto’s 23,000 inside workers announced Sunday afternoon they have scheduled a strike vote for Tuesday.
“We did not come by the decision to seek a strike mandate lightly,” said CUPE Local 79 president Tom Maguire in a news release.
“Our goal is to negotiate fair collective agreements without a strike. It’s now clear the city can’t say the same without something to focus their attention.”
The announcement came the same day the union for the city’s 2,300 library workers walked off the job after failing to negotiate a new contract.
Maguire noted the city has not moved on major concessions that would affect part-time and front-line city workers.
Toronto’s inside workers include daycare workers, clerks, court services staff, planners, social service workers and cleaners.
They could walk off the job or be locked out by the city as early as 12:01 a.m. on Saturday March 24.
Likely effects of a strike or lockout include: closure of all 57 city-run daycares, community centres, museums, swimming pools and non-emergency public health programs; cancellation of permits for parks, tennis courts and sports fields; a halt to the processing of building permits and rezoning applications; and limited access to city buildings.
So far, the city’s offer “isn’t even close” to the Local 416 settlement that the city reached with its 6,000 outside workers last month, said Maguire, adding “let alone one that represents the nature of Local 79.”
On Sunday, deputy mayor Doug Holyday, who chairs the city’s labour relations committee, said calling a strike vote hasn’t changed things at the bargaining table — the only place where a settlement can be reached.
“Our negotiators are professional negotiators, negotiating on behalf of the taxpayers and they’re very focused,” said Holyday.
Holyday has said major union demands include: barring the city from using volunteers without union permission; no contracting out of work done by Local 79 members; double pay for those who work a designated holiday; and a $350-per-year bonus for some part-time employees who regularly work weekends.
Citing his own experiences talking to the city’s inside employees, Holyday said he has yet to find any who are supporting a labour action.
He added that the negotiators for CUPE Local 416 offered to accept a pay freeze for a further three years. Referring to those bargaining for Local 79: “These people have gone in completely the opposite direction. They’ve got 100 enhancements,” he said.
The strike mandate will also protect members from a potential threat by the city to impose new terms and conditions of employment, said Maguire in the statement, adding the union decided to hold a vote because they want the city to begin talking. Local 79 has also scheduled a ratification vote for March 24, following the scheduled bargaining deadline.