

Chris Fox and Chris Herhalt, CP24.com





The city and the union representing inside workers have agreed to a 24-hour extension of a midnight deadline as contract talks aimed at avoiding a work stoppage ended for the day late Friday night.

CUPE Local 79 President Tim Maguire provided the update shortly after 11 p.m.

“This is just a short announcement to let the public know that the City of Toronto and Local 79 have agreed to an extension of our talks deadline for 24 hours,” he said.

Additional details on how the negotiations were proceeding were not provided.

Talks will resume Saturday morning.

Speaking with the media Friday afternoon, Maguire said that the two sides were “still far apart” on several issues, hinting that the city was continuing to push cuts to employee benefits at the bargaining table.

“A deal Local 79 can recommend to its members is a deal that doesn’t take money out of worker’s pockets,” Maguire told reporters from the Sheraton on Queen Street at around 3:45 p.m.

He said that while progress had been slow, the union did not intend to walk away from the bargaining table at 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning, when the union would be in a legal strike position, and the city enters a formal position to legally lock out inside workers.

“I would love it if we could reach a deal by midnight, but if we don’t, let’s keep negotiating,” he said.

Maguire added that he would recommend that his members reject any city-imposed conditions or a whole contact.

Earlier in the day, CUPE Local 416 President Matt Alloway emerged from a conference room at the Doubletree Hotel on Chestnut Street to announce that a deal between that union – which represents approximately 4,200 outside workers – and the city had been reached.

The deal will now be presented to CUPE Local 416 members for ratification in the coming days. If ratified by the membership, the deal would then have to be approved by city council.

“This has been a very difficult and challenging round of bargaining but we have emerged from this process with a tentative agreement,” Alloway said. “I want to commend the bargaining committee for their dedication and hard work in this process.”

No details have been released about the tentative agreement, however Mayor John Tory told reporters at a subsequent press conference that it is a “responsible one” and is “within the mandate” that was initially set by the city’s employee and labour relations committee.

Tory also said that it is his hope that the agreement will provide a framework for a negotiated settlement with the union representing the city’s inside workers.

The last contract for both CUPE Local 416 and CUPE Local 79 expired on Dec. 31, 2015.

“I think what we have is a precedent that if two sides sit down and conduct themselves in a vigorous but honest and straightforward way and they keep at it, a deal can be arrived at that is fair to the employees and the citizens of Toronto,” Tory said. “Without getting into the substance of what is in either agreement, I hope that precedent can be followed and we will have a deal sometime soon.”

Union was seeking wage increase

Representatives for CUPE Local 416 previously said that they were seeking a “modest wage increase” and a commitment to “no concessions bargaining” that would have seen much of the union’s previous contract with the city rolled over into a new deal.

Meanwhile, the city had said that the costs of benefits have risen by about four per cent annually in recent years, making changes to the collective bargaining agreement necessary.

On Friday, Tory was asked whether the tentative agreement includes any cuts to the benefits packages given to workers however he said it would be improper to comment on the agreement before it is presented to union members.

“The details of the agreement should be made clear to the membership of the union first and members of city council before we start discussing it in the public domain,” he said.