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County of Simcoe releases statement on possible job action by CUPE

August 22, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The County of Simcoe has issued a statement regarding possible impending work action by CUPE 5820.00 and 5820.01.

Negotiators from the County of Simcoe and CUPE 5820 participated in a meeting with a provincially appointed mediator on Friday, Aug. 2, to discuss ongoing collective bargaining negotiations.

During the meeting, both parties were able to approve, in principle, a tentative agreement, which required ratification by the members of CUPE 5820.00 and 5820.01 and then by County Council. Membership of CUPE 5820.00 and 5820.01 voted against the offer on the evening of Aug. 6.

“While we respect the decision of the membership, we are disappointed with the results,” the County said in a statement. “We believe the offer presented to the union was fair, aligned with market comparables and other compensation packages (union and non-union) at the County, and ultimately respected taxpayers’ dollars. The offer included a three-year agreement with a wage increase in the first year consisting of a fixed hourly rate increase of $1.25. This increase represents different percentage increases depending on the specific role but provides an average 3.5% increase in year one across all positions. Years two and three provided a further 3% increase each year, additional health and dental benefits, and significant vacation enhancements, among other elements.”

CUPE leadership has indicated that they have no further plans to return to the bargaining table under the current terms.

This group of employees is currently in a position to hold a legal work stoppage or be locked out by the County as of Aug. 18, 2024.

The County and the Provincial Mediator are holding a date for further discussions in hopes that the CUPE bargaining team will return to the table to avoid a work stoppage. The two CUPE agreements represent approximately 290 employees who serve in Social Services and other County administrative/support roles.

Should a work stoppage occur, all essential community support and services, including landfills, waste collections, transit, road/plowing operations, paramedics, long-term care and seniors services will continue without impact as these services are not directly impacted by these collective agreements.

A strike could lead to the closure of the Simcoe County Museum (including impacts on Day Camp programming), Simcoe County Archives, and Service Simcoe Contact Centre.

Current service and contact information for many departments will be updated regularly on simcoe.ca. Ontario Works payments and child care fee subsidies will continue. However, there could be some processing delays for new applications or implementing changes to existing case files.

This is one of 11 total collective bargaining agreements that the County of Simcoe holds with unionized employees.

The County has not experienced a labour stoppage in more than 20 years. A work stoppage has not been confirmed by either party at this time.

For updates and information on possible impacts on our collective bargaining efforts, visit the website at simcoe.ca. 

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