CUPE, Mount Pearl reach tentative agreement in lengthy strike
CBC
A resolution to a months-long labour dispute could be getting closer.
Ken Turner, the president of CUPE Local 2099, says striking municipal workers have reached a tentative agreement with the City of Mount Pearl.
Turner said the union and city struck the tentative deal around 9 p.m. NT on Saturday.
Turner said union members have been notified of the tentative agreement, but workers will have to vote to ratify it before the strike is over.
He said the date and location for the vote are undecided.
The nearly 12-week strike has been tense at times. In late August, striking workers rejected the city's final proposal and burned copies of it at a rally.
The workers also said they feared disciplinary action upon return to work, while the city accused the workers of serious safety violations during the dispute.
The work stoppage also forced the cancellation of youth sports, such as soccer and swimming, in the city during the summer.
About 200 municipal workers went on strike on July 7 after voting 92 per cent in favour of a strike. The workers said at that time that two-tiered sick leave benefits for new hires was an issue.
In its final offer in late August, the city said in a statement it had offered new and existing workers 18 sick days, the introduction of two new personal leave days, a nine per cent wage increase over four years and a $1,000 signing bonus.
The collective agreement between CUPE and the city expired June 30. Both sides had been bargaining since March.
CUPE Local 2099 members work in road maintenance, water and sewage, engineering, recreation services, administration and other areas.
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