Union for Edmonton city, library workers unveils salary increases in tentative deal
CBC
The union for Edmonton library and city workers says members will see a 6.25 per cent salary increase over three years, plus a $1,000 lump sum payment, if they ratify a tentative deal that narrowly averted strike action this week.
Civic Service Union 52, which represents about 5,000 administrative city workers and 680 Edmonton Public Library staff, made details of the monetary increases public on Friday.
The deal isn't official until CSU 52 members ratify the agreement. EPL and city workers belong to separate bargaining units, so they have separate deals, but the proposed salary increases are the same for both.
Workers were preparing to walk off the job Thursday, but hours before picket lines were set to appear, the union announced they'd reached a deal with the city. An agreement with the library followed Thursday evening.
The agreement on a tentative deal prevented a widespread work stoppage that would have seen libraries close, recreation centres turn people away and most city permitting and licensing services suspended.
The Edmonton Police Service was preparing to have officers fill in for striking 911 dispatchers, and the city warned 311 service would be significantly limited.
Wages have been the central issue in the dispute — workers haven't had a wage increase since 2018 and have been without a contract since 2020.
Numbers released by the union show that under the tentative deal, employees would get a $1,000 lump sum payment in lieu of a wage increase for 2021. Then, they would see a 1.25 per cent raise for 2022, a two per cent increase for 2023 and a three per cent increase for 2024.
CSU 52 president Lanny Chudyk said union members are relieved to see the situation resolved, pending ratification, and said the tentative deal also includes agreements on other priority issues.
"It's my understanding it was a good number of members of the council who stepped up and interceded to push this deal to where it is today," Chudyk said Friday.
He pointed to Ward pihêsiwin Coun. Tim Cartmell as especially key to getting city administration back to the table.
"My members never, in either bargaining unit, wanted to go to a picket line. They never wanted to disrupt services to the citizens.... Bluntly, if this council had interceded late summer, early fall, even before Christmas, we could have got this deal done then."
Cartmell, other council members and city officials said they won't comment until the ratification process is finished.
A spokesperson for the Edmonton Public Library also declined CBC's request for comment, saying CSU 52 members still need to see the details of the tentative agreement.
A growing number of Manitoba's MRI machines now use artificial intelligence, with a plan to have more than half using the technology by spring.
A mobile unit the Saskatchewan government bought in 2002 for providing mammograms to Saskatchewan women will soon retire.
The Prince Edward Island government is rolling out the province’s first-ever policing standards, which officials say will make police services more consistent, transparent and better supported.
Residents in Niagara Falls, Ont., continue to wait for news on the future of Marineland’s property and dozens of animals, including up to 30 belugas and four dolphins — nearly two months after the federal government turned down the theme park's request to export the mammals.
Canadian travellers hoping for a new year without having to worry about a labour dispute may be out of luck, as 2026 will see most major airlines from this country facing off with unions across the bargaining table.
Food prices are soaring. Food prices keep climbing. Food prices are defying cooling inflation.
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Ontario legislation that mandated air conditioning in all resident rooms in long-term care (LTC) homes has saved dozens of lives, according to a new study.
Gusty winds, rapid fall in temperature prompt special weather statement for Waterloo region and area
The mid-week warmup in Waterloo region, Guelph and area will abruptly come to an end on Friday, Environment and Climate Change Canada warns.
Water in two more schools in the N.W.T. show lead levels above Health Canada's guidelines for drinking water, according to the territorial government.
Ontario's ethics watchdog says it will investigate whether the province's labour minister contravened any laws in his handling of a controversial training fund.
Mitchell Rose, the 32-year-old man charged with three counts of attempted murder in St. John’s, will spend the next month on the forensic unit of a psychiatric hospital.
Nearly eight years after Halifax sold the historic Khyber building in the hopes it could be revived, the municipality says the site has become a “threat to safety” — and is taking it back.