With a potential strike that would affect many City of Edmonton services just one day away, the back and forth continues between city council and the union.
The Civic Service Union (CSU 52) served strike notice Monday at 11 a.m. The union said the picket line will begin Thursday at 11 a.m.
CSU 52 represents about 6,000 technical, professional, administrative and clerical workers within the City of Edmonton and Edmonton Public Library, including police communications (911 operators), 311 support agents, city planners, safety code and building code officers, permit processors, recreation centre employees, animal welfare co-ordinators, tax assessors, librarians, pages and professional services.
The city said its negotiations with the union included 30 bargaining sessions and multiple mediation dates. The city’s first proposals were made in September 2022, said acting chief people officer Cyndil Taylor. At the end of January, CSU 52 held several emergency meetings with members as contract negotiations with the city stalled.
CSU 52 told Global News that Mayor Amarjeet Sohi met with union president Lanny Chudyk earlier Tuesday, but no progress was made.
“I know you haven’t heard a lot from me or the city administration over the course of negotiations with CSU 52,” city manager Andre Corbould said during a news conference on Wednesday. “That has been intentional. We don’t believe in negotiating in the press or via social media.
“The city respects the collective bargaining process and we wanted to let negotiations unfold where they should: at the negotiating table.
“We now need to be transparent and ensure Edmontonians have accurate information.”
The city has adjusted its offer but now it feels like they’re at an impasse, Corbould said.
“I don’t believe going to a table now, when I don’t have more to offer, would be in good faith.”
The negotiations weren’t just about monetary compensation, city officials said, but also included retroactive pay and hybrid work.
Corbould outlined the city’s best and final offer to union members: a 7.25-per cent wage increase over five years. He said a five-year agreement would create stability for the city and workers. There hasn’t been a collective bargaining agreement in place for five years, he said.
The city manager said about 60 per cent of City of Edmonton staff — roughly 8,000 employees — who are not part of CSU 52 have already accepted similar offers.
The union’s request would see a 12.5-per cent pay increase over five years, Corbould said, numbers which are confirmed on CSU 52’s website.
The city manager said accepting CSU 52’s demands would result in a 2.5-per cent property tax increase to Edmontonians this year and two per cent the next year.
Corbould said he’s heard how citizens feel about the tax increase already, and “we do not feel this additional impact is appropriate given the current financial constraints.”
“We are very sympathetic to union members who feel their salaries have not met changes in the cost of living. I think many Edmontonians share that same feeling. Those inflationary pressures have been the result of multiple pressures that the city alone cannot rectify,” Corbould said.
“Edmonton taxpayers alone cannot bear the brunt of these cost pressures, particularly as many of our local households and businesses are also feeling the very same pressures.”
On Tuesday evening, Sohi shared a statement that was signed by him and all councillors on social media.
It said, in part, that “all members of council are united in our desire to reach a fair and equitable resolution for all city employees.”
Council said the city offered “CSU 52 members a fair and equitable deal” that “includes 7.25 per cent in total wage increases over five years. About 8,0000 city employees have already accepted a similar increase for 2023, 2022 and 2023.”
Council said it also has to be fair to Edmontonians — balancing the union’s requests with “the current fiscal pressures faced by the city and Edmontonians.”
“The proposal put forward by CSU 52 would result in an additional tax increase of 2.5 per cent ($47.5M) for 2024 if applied to all the city workforce. There would also be a one-time $17-million unfunded retroactive payment that would be due immediately. The overall tax impact would be an increase to 9.1 per cent in 2024,” council’s statement said.
It ended by saying “the city’s negotiating team will continue to be open to discussions.”
The union issued a statement Wednesday in response.
Chudyk slammed council for “passing the cost of front-line workers onto taxpayers instead of making hard choices on discretionary projects.”
“Leadership is taking a look at the ‘nice-to-haves’ and making hard choices.
“Blatchford, electric buses, the hydrogen fueling station, LRT projects — the list of money mismanagement this council oversees is long and their inexperience continues to show,” the union president said.
“This should not be the burden of the taxpayer.”
He said he questions the numbers released by the mayor and council in the statement, saying CSU 52 is not negotiating for all City of Edmonton employees.
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Chudyk also called out the continuous urging to “return to the negotiating table.”
“We sent an official request to return to the table Monday morning and still haven’t received a word from their negotiating team. It is impossible to negotiate with a party that has not come to the bargaining table since December 2023.”
He said the two parties are about two per cent apart, saying the union is proposing wage increases of 1.5 per cent in 2021 and 2022, and two per cent in 2023, while the city’s offer is zero in 2021, one per cent in 2022 and two per cent in 2023. Council has said the city offered 7.25 per cent over five years.
The union does not want to strike either, Chudyk stressed.
“What we want is a fair and equitable deal for CSU 52 members instead we will see a strike that will see far-reaching impacts for Edmontonians — something this city has not had to deal (with) in nearly 50 years.”
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