Why we are on strike
We are 24,000 people who work for you every day in child care, public health, emergency services, garbage & recycling, social services, planning, permits, building inspections, water and sewage treatment, parks and recreation, animal services, and so much more.
We do not want to be on strike, but our employer – the City of Toronto – gave us no choice.
The city says it wants fairness. There is no fairness in offering us so much less than the 2.4% increase for city councillors and 3% for other unionized city workers. There is no fairness in trying to take away collective agreement rights that were not touched in negotiations with police, fire, housing, parking authority and hydro.
The city says it wants affordability. The city’s financial problems are not new. Taking away benefits from workers will not solve the problem. Cancelling advanced training for paramedics will not solve the problem. Refusing to provide CPR and first aid training to part-time parks and recreation staff – who must pay out of pocket for required training – will not solve the problem.
The city says it wants flexibility. The city wants to turn back the clock to an era of bitter labour relations without regard to earned seniority or other collective agreement rights. The city has rejected all of our proposals to improve efficiency, such as modified work for injured paramedics and other workers, increasing hours for part-timers or combining temporary seasonal jobs so workers do not have to turn to EI or social assistance (an additional cost for the city) for survival.
We tried for six months to reach a negotiated settlement, but the city dragged its feet. We set a deadline, but the city didn’t care. Just hours before the deadline, the city gave us a proposal designed to provoke a strike. It is time for the city to move off its concession demands and negotiate to end this strike.
We want equal treatment now!
The facts on sick days
Many of us have worked for decades on the understanding that we have a sick plan and would be paid for a portion of unused sick days when we retire. We believed the City’s promise.
The payout for accumulated sick days – which has stringent rules – is the only severance we receive when we retire from the City of Toronto, if we are eligible.
Local 416 and Local 79 members can only get paid sick time after six months of employment.
In Local 79, only full-time city workers have a payout provision. Members in the city’s homes for the aged have paid sick days with no payout.
About 10,000 part-time child care, public health, hostel and recreation workers have no paid sick days at all. Local 79 has been trying for a decade to improve this situation. Now we are fighting just to hold on to what is already there for some members.
You would have to work for 15 years without taking one sick day to earn the maximum payout after 25 years service. That means no illness, no having to stay home to take care of a sick child or an ailing parent for 15 years.
Full-time workers in Local 79 and Local 416 must work 10 years before they are eligible for any payout. The percentage of banked sick days that will be paid and the maximum to which they will be paid grows with the number of years of service.
The proposal made by the city to replace our current provisions is a substandard short-term disability plan.
