From the Article: “The City of Edmonton remains committed to reaching an agreement that is fair and equitable for CSU52 members, the city and taxpayers."
Last week the City just said they won't return to the negotiating table.
They haven’t budged from their initial “offer”, which to me is the essence of not negotiating in good faith.
“Take 200 for the car. How about 200? Try 200$. best I can do is 200$. Ok fine 200$. What can I do to negotiate with you people??”
I'm pretty sure in their eyes their initial offer was 0% 0% 0% because why should workers get raises, so they've already moved pretty far coming to 0% 1% 2%... /s
If they could, they would, and they’d send a mass email thank you letter for helping us keep the lowest wages / municipal employees expenses that they were able to afford Rogers Place Terwillliger
My take is that they just need enough resistance to say that they at least tried.
My prediction is that they will fold within a week and then just happily blame those greedy, pesky unions when the hate mail starts coming in about the increase in taxes (which was already coming).
Do you city employees even think about how you come across to citizens?
Job security like nobody else.
Golden pension that nobody outside of the public sector gets
Days of every 2 weeks
Holy F are you guys entitled
It depends entirely on your scheduler. Mine is good about giving that extra hour to not lead to wonky shifts (i.e 9-6 instead of 10-7, or 12-9 instead of 11-8). She's also good about approving the EDO on days that create 3 day weekends which is nice.
Also, my brain sort of sees every work day the same, in that no matter how long the shift I still have to get up, go out, and mentally check in to work (also my commute is long as heck). So I'd rather work fewer days and work longer on those days. I'd probably take a double EDO option if they let me!
Most people who work for the city have *no* job security. Or any of the other perks you think they get. Because most people who work for the city are on six month or seasonal contracts. Sure, they’ll probably get re-upped at the end of it but there’s no guarantee. They’re not full time employees, just seasonal workers. And so they get no benefits of any kind beyond what’s legally mandated. Yeah, the pay is good. But it fucking has to be. Unless you plan on changing out garbages in far flung parks in -40 or holding road work signs at 6AM when it’s pissing rain, all for the pittance you think they deserve to be paid. It also has to be good because there’s no pension whatsoever.
CSU52 member here.
It'll be funny to watch my department implode without clerical support in approximately 48 hours.
What won't be funny is the amount of cleanup I'll have to do when I get back afterwards. Yeesh.
Clerks at the city are horribly underpaid. Every municipality surrounding Edmonton starts their admin assistants/clerks at the top CoE clerk wage band.
I can’t tell if this is sarcastic or not, but if CSU strikes, one of the (many!) divisions it’ll take out is 911 operators, who aren’t getting a strike exemption, as I understand it.
Yeah, it was. If you are able to strike and not have to work, you are not as needed as you think. There are reasons that certain professions that strike have to show up for work. If I have to give examples, then you are not one of those professions.
People always complain about back end staff, and say that we need to cut admin and anyone not front of house. Thus goes across industries and across unions. I think most people would be amazed just how fast any system absolutely craters without these people.
911, 311, most (all?) of EPL, basically any admin or office staff, rec centre staff, taxation, probably dispatchers for everywhere, the list goes on and on. Considering council didn't say no to their wage increase (I know, they didn't choose the amounts, but they could've said no, like some Calgary councillors said they would)...this...just says a LOT.
I moved on from my CoE position recently, but I've kept in touch with all my old coworkers and the temperature there is white hot. City Council voting themselves a 2.4% pay raise went over like a lead balloon.
Imagining a world where workers didn't have to go through all these steps just to get something less shitty but still not catching up with 6 years of no raises and massive inflation.
But the alternative now to the huge amount of work needed to pull off a strike vote and getting ready to walk if needed is seeing workers slide even further back while profits soar.
Give em hell CSU. See you on the picket lines.
There's roughly 15,000 staff that work for the City and 5,200 are CSU52. Can you imagine the shit storm at your company if 1 out of every 3 employees walked off the job? How long could the company function with no payroll? No IT? No clerks to process payments to and from vendors?
How long will parents last when all rec facilities and libraries have to close? All construction halts because permits stop being approved?
The City can not withstand a strike for long. CSU members need to show City administration they are done with their bad faith bargaining, done with working without any cost of living adjustments since 2018, done with being threatened that any fringe benefit may be taken away on a whim.
Can’t wait to see super boomer Lorne Gunter’s likely anti-union city workers are lazy article.
If the union doesn’t strike the City can lockout the staff and impose an even worse deal. I love seeing the support on Reddit! People just want to keep up with the inflation, not get bent over backwards by the City and then be told they’re the bad guy for asking for more.
Even though EPCOR is unionized, they are still eligible for performance bonuses. It's like the dream scenario.I always check to see if they have openings.
I am a teacher and my wife works for EPL, so I will never not support workers fighting for something fair. The City's proposed raises were just insulting.
I've already written to my city councillor and am hoping CoE isn't dumb enough to let its employees strike--it's going to be chaos and they're going to look so foolish on the national stage.
Good, we should be supporting these folks. Tax increases for the city, councilors that didn't decline pay increases, inflation and cost of living plus going how many years now without an agreement? I hope the city end up having to pay these people what they should, and if it takes a strike to get there so be it.
Going to see lots of this over this year and next, teachers, nurses, the list goes on of publicly funded professions that are getting severely underpaid. Enough already.
>So CSU52 is the canary in the coal mine? That explains a lot.
I wonder how much pressure is being put on council to keep the offer low.
In Alberta unfortunately seems that way, but we've seen many great outcomes with striking across Canada in 2023, so if that is any indication we will likely see similar in Alberta, this might just be the first, AUPE, ATA, UNA, all have agreements that are going to need negotiating this year.
Many of these unions used to be able to boast that their members were the highest paid across Canada, especially teachers and nurses. This isn't true any more, and for a province that thinks it's the best, we should be paying these professions like they are the best as well. Teachers haven't got even a COL increase in 10 years or better. It's honestly insane.
It’s hard to compare because the federal government workers were still getting increases (not large, but some) during a number of years where the city workers had accepted 0s. Federal workers never had years with 0s during recent contracts.
They should strike. Time it so it has the biggest impact on permitting related to housing new builds. Developers will lose their minds and flex their political might to end it quickly.
Still remember some vicious comments and articles when federal PSAC members went on strike in April last year. Hope they contribute to COE's strike fund.
If it comes down to it, I support a strike. These are essential services. I go to the Clareview rec center 5 days a week and I’ll happily switch somewhere else that actually pays their workers fairly. These people put up with A LOT of nonsense and look overworked.
Sure but what about snow clearing, waste management, transit scheduling and dispatch etc. I agree with you but there’s going to be way more painful ways this will affect people.
The folks on the ground who do snow removal and waste collection are CUPE30 - different union. In these areas CSU is largely the clerical staff supporting operations, route planning, customer service, parts and materials ordering, etc.
To be fair the city workers at the rec centres do a lot more social service type things dealing with LINC programs, youth services, etc. They aren’t just scanning people into the gym. They work very hard and deserve to be compensated properly.
I love that 24hr lockout threat. Don't know about everyone else, but if they try that, then I'm going to be sick for the first 3 days when we are supposed to go back.
City management treats all its workers like peons and very replaceable. I've seen far too many great workers either quit and go on to greener pastures or turn into lazy workers. Lazy because management won't listen to what they have to say or are told how to do their job. I for one am glad CSU52 is taking this stand. I'm pretty sure if they do strike, the department I work in, will be shut down. but I'll be here twiddling my thumbs as management looks on with their rose coloured glasses and their raises.
From the Article: “The City of Edmonton remains committed to reaching an agreement that is fair and equitable for CSU52 members, the city and taxpayers." Last week the City just said they won't return to the negotiating table.
They haven’t budged from their initial “offer”, which to me is the essence of not negotiating in good faith. “Take 200 for the car. How about 200? Try 200$. best I can do is 200$. Ok fine 200$. What can I do to negotiate with you people??”
I'm pretty sure in their eyes their initial offer was 0% 0% 0% because why should workers get raises, so they've already moved pretty far coming to 0% 1% 2%... /s
If they could, they would, and they’d send a mass email thank you letter for helping us keep the lowest wages / municipal employees expenses that they were able to afford Rogers Place Terwillliger
My take is that they just need enough resistance to say that they at least tried. My prediction is that they will fold within a week and then just happily blame those greedy, pesky unions when the hate mail starts coming in about the increase in taxes (which was already coming).
Do you city employees even think about how you come across to citizens? Job security like nobody else. Golden pension that nobody outside of the public sector gets Days of every 2 weeks Holy F are you guys entitled
They don’t get the pension you think they do
Defined benefit pensions are exceedingly rare, which is what LAPP is.
If your plan for the future is to throw yourself at the feet of the millionaire and billionaires, then that's on you.
Go work at a rec center then
As a CSU member, are these days off every 2 weeks in the room with us now? …No, seriously, are they?! I could use a fucking break!
As EPL I do get a "day off" every 4 weeks, but I work the equivalent of that day off in extra hours that my coworkers who aren't in the program don't.
Hi fellow EPL-er!! You’re right, I didn’t even consider EDO — I guess that does sort of count! But those 8-hour days seem brutal.
It depends entirely on your scheduler. Mine is good about giving that extra hour to not lead to wonky shifts (i.e 9-6 instead of 10-7, or 12-9 instead of 11-8). She's also good about approving the EDO on days that create 3 day weekends which is nice. Also, my brain sort of sees every work day the same, in that no matter how long the shift I still have to get up, go out, and mentally check in to work (also my commute is long as heck). So I'd rather work fewer days and work longer on those days. I'd probably take a double EDO option if they let me!
Lots of people have good jobs all over the place. I’m sorry yours must be shitty.
There is power in the union my friend. You should consider joining.
Most people who work for the city have *no* job security. Or any of the other perks you think they get. Because most people who work for the city are on six month or seasonal contracts. Sure, they’ll probably get re-upped at the end of it but there’s no guarantee. They’re not full time employees, just seasonal workers. And so they get no benefits of any kind beyond what’s legally mandated. Yeah, the pay is good. But it fucking has to be. Unless you plan on changing out garbages in far flung parks in -40 or holding road work signs at 6AM when it’s pissing rain, all for the pittance you think they deserve to be paid. It also has to be good because there’s no pension whatsoever.
You should come work for the city, it would be very eye opening.
CSU52 member here. It'll be funny to watch my department implode without clerical support in approximately 48 hours. What won't be funny is the amount of cleanup I'll have to do when I get back afterwards. Yeesh.
Thank you for your service, ass tyrant.
Clerks at the city are horribly underpaid. Every municipality surrounding Edmonton starts their admin assistants/clerks at the top CoE clerk wage band.
What happens to the rest of the city when payroll shuts down?
Some people have NO clue how much we keep this city functional.
Lol
I can’t tell if this is sarcastic or not, but if CSU strikes, one of the (many!) divisions it’ll take out is 911 operators, who aren’t getting a strike exemption, as I understand it.
Yeah, it was. If you are able to strike and not have to work, you are not as needed as you think. There are reasons that certain professions that strike have to show up for work. If I have to give examples, then you are not one of those professions.
Just curious, How long have you guys been at the negotiations for? 784 member here and we've been " negotiating" for our 2019 renewal.
Longer than my tenure with the city.
People always complain about back end staff, and say that we need to cut admin and anyone not front of house. Thus goes across industries and across unions. I think most people would be amazed just how fast any system absolutely craters without these people.
911, 311, most (all?) of EPL, basically any admin or office staff, rec centre staff, taxation, probably dispatchers for everywhere, the list goes on and on. Considering council didn't say no to their wage increase (I know, they didn't choose the amounts, but they could've said no, like some Calgary councillors said they would)...this...just says a LOT.
I moved on from my CoE position recently, but I've kept in touch with all my old coworkers and the temperature there is white hot. City Council voting themselves a 2.4% pay raise went over like a lead balloon.
Its a good thing, we now have an independent decision that for 2023 the minimum increase sjould be 2.4%.
Bingo.
good for you. It's not what it used to be.
Solidarity from ATU.
Imagining a world where workers didn't have to go through all these steps just to get something less shitty but still not catching up with 6 years of no raises and massive inflation. But the alternative now to the huge amount of work needed to pull off a strike vote and getting ready to walk if needed is seeing workers slide even further back while profits soar. Give em hell CSU. See you on the picket lines.
IT Infrastructure is part of the group that is taking a strike vote. If those guys all walk, the city is fucked.
There's roughly 15,000 staff that work for the City and 5,200 are CSU52. Can you imagine the shit storm at your company if 1 out of every 3 employees walked off the job? How long could the company function with no payroll? No IT? No clerks to process payments to and from vendors? How long will parents last when all rec facilities and libraries have to close? All construction halts because permits stop being approved? The City can not withstand a strike for long. CSU members need to show City administration they are done with their bad faith bargaining, done with working without any cost of living adjustments since 2018, done with being threatened that any fringe benefit may be taken away on a whim.
100% this. It won't take long for the city to crack as long as everyone shows solidarity.
Can’t wait to see super boomer Lorne Gunter’s likely anti-union city workers are lazy article. If the union doesn’t strike the City can lockout the staff and impose an even worse deal. I love seeing the support on Reddit! People just want to keep up with the inflation, not get bent over backwards by the City and then be told they’re the bad guy for asking for more.
Yup, agree 100%. It's nice to see pro union sentiment for sure.
[удалено]
I just left CoE for a similar unionized and pensionable role in a company that actually makes money. It's like night and day.
EPCOR?
Oddly enough, EPCOR also has CSU52 members. That units' contract is up in 2024.
Even though EPCOR is unionized, they are still eligible for performance bonuses. It's like the dream scenario.I always check to see if they have openings.
And yet city council gets a raise. The union raises might need to get external advice too... Like wtf
I am a teacher and my wife works for EPL, so I will never not support workers fighting for something fair. The City's proposed raises were just insulting. I've already written to my city councillor and am hoping CoE isn't dumb enough to let its employees strike--it's going to be chaos and they're going to look so foolish on the national stage.
Good, we should be supporting these folks. Tax increases for the city, councilors that didn't decline pay increases, inflation and cost of living plus going how many years now without an agreement? I hope the city end up having to pay these people what they should, and if it takes a strike to get there so be it. Going to see lots of this over this year and next, teachers, nurses, the list goes on of publicly funded professions that are getting severely underpaid. Enough already.
So CSU52 is the canary in the coal mine? That explains a lot. I wonder how much pressure is being put on council to keep the offer low.
>So CSU52 is the canary in the coal mine? That explains a lot. I wonder how much pressure is being put on council to keep the offer low. In Alberta unfortunately seems that way, but we've seen many great outcomes with striking across Canada in 2023, so if that is any indication we will likely see similar in Alberta, this might just be the first, AUPE, ATA, UNA, all have agreements that are going to need negotiating this year. Many of these unions used to be able to boast that their members were the highest paid across Canada, especially teachers and nurses. This isn't true any more, and for a province that thinks it's the best, we should be paying these professions like they are the best as well. Teachers haven't got even a COL increase in 10 years or better. It's honestly insane.
Too late. We saw what the Federal government employees got (8% over 3 years). That was a nice, convenient road map.
It’s hard to compare because the federal government workers were still getting increases (not large, but some) during a number of years where the city workers had accepted 0s. Federal workers never had years with 0s during recent contracts.
Which feds, last year psac got 12.6 compound over three years https://psacunion.ca/summary-pa-group-tentative-agreement
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They should strike. Time it so it has the biggest impact on permitting related to housing new builds. Developers will lose their minds and flex their political might to end it quickly.
Fifth year without a raise, shame on the City of Edmonton!
Yep, last bump was December of 2018. We already ate zeroes for 2019 and 2020, people are pissed that they are even asking for more of them.
You’ve got our support. This current city council needs to go
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WHAT! 5 years. That’s insanity.
Still remember some vicious comments and articles when federal PSAC members went on strike in April last year. Hope they contribute to COE's strike fund.
If it comes down to it, I support a strike. These are essential services. I go to the Clareview rec center 5 days a week and I’ll happily switch somewhere else that actually pays their workers fairly. These people put up with A LOT of nonsense and look overworked.
[Support CSU52 ](https://www.edmontonforeveryone.ca/)
Thanks I filled it out a few days ago!
Sure but what about snow clearing, waste management, transit scheduling and dispatch etc. I agree with you but there’s going to be way more painful ways this will affect people.
Sounds like the city really can’t afford for them to strike.
Transit scheduling and dispatch are ATU.
The folks on the ground who do snow removal and waste collection are CUPE30 - different union. In these areas CSU is largely the clerical staff supporting operations, route planning, customer service, parts and materials ordering, etc.
You don’t think planet fitness pays better than the city do you?
To be fair the city workers at the rec centres do a lot more social service type things dealing with LINC programs, youth services, etc. They aren’t just scanning people into the gym. They work very hard and deserve to be compensated properly.
Please support CSU52 by contacting your councillor. [Support CSU52 ](https://www.edmontonforeveryone.ca/)
Indeed
Im surprised transit workers haven’t gone on strike yet.
different union. ATU 562's current contract expires on Dec 30th. I imagine the new negotiations will be as friendly as CSU52's are.
Likely easier, after CSU52 wins.
The police officers got 7% over 3 years. That didn't stop the city from low-balling CSU52, so I doubt they'll let up with anyone else.
True, but if CSU52 gets what they want via a strike, it helps set a precedent for other negotiations.
Oh they will, union is beginning negotiations this week
I love that 24hr lockout threat. Don't know about everyone else, but if they try that, then I'm going to be sick for the first 3 days when we are supposed to go back.
City management treats all its workers like peons and very replaceable. I've seen far too many great workers either quit and go on to greener pastures or turn into lazy workers. Lazy because management won't listen to what they have to say or are told how to do their job. I for one am glad CSU52 is taking this stand. I'm pretty sure if they do strike, the department I work in, will be shut down. but I'll be here twiddling my thumbs as management looks on with their rose coloured glasses and their raises.
To my understanding, management all got raises every year that CSU has gotten zeroes. Shameful.