Skip to content

University maintenance workers could strike by mid-March

Union representing 200 trades, maintenance and service workers at the University asks Ministry of Labour for no board report
20160202 University of Guelph 02 KA
File photo: University of Guelph. Kenneth Armstrong/GuelphToday

NEWS RELEASE

CANADIAN UNION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES LOCAL 1334 

*************************
Following several days of collective bargaining with the University of Guelph, the negotiating team of Local 1334 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has requested the Ministry of Labour issue a ‘No Board’ report, which has set into motion a deadline by which a strike or lockout could take place. 

“Filing the no board was necessary to insure progress continues to be made within an established, reasonable timeframe” said Janice Folk-Dawson, President of Local 1334, which represents over 200 trades, maintenance and service workers at the University. 

The workers' main areas of concern are the contracting out of their work, along with maintaining good jobs and job security into the future. 

“These issues have been on going for well over a year. 1334 had served notice to bargain last February but the University did not meet with us until November” Folk-Dawson said. “The entire campus has been subject to reduced levels of service due to unfilled positions and the cloud of uncertainty in the air has added to our workplace challenges.”

Although the University of Guelph has been listed as one of the top ten employers in the country according to Forbes Magazine in 2016, the campus has seen a marked reduction in the degree of cleanliness and general maintenance due to reductions in staffing. “The University continues to threaten to contract out our work, which will result in little or no actual cost savings in the long run,” Folk-Dawson added.

The University has indicated that they “engaged the union in discussions a year in advance of collective bargaining” but these discussions were not actually part of the current bargaining process. During the recent conciliation period, 1334 provided numerous viable alternatives to the contracting out.

The Ministry is expected to release the ‘No Board’ Report today. Once the report is issued, the parties will then meet with the assistance of a provincially appointed mediator prior to the strike/lockout deadline. The earliest possible service disruption would be 17 days from the date the report is issued, which will fall in mid March.

*************************
 


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.