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This article was published 1/6/2017 (1212 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City hall is gearing up for a strike by its largest union.

The city is attempting to train other civic staff to do key jobs performed by members of CUPE 500, who have been without a contract since the end of December.

Boris Minkevich / Winnipeg Free Press files "No firefighters will be involved in CUPE work or training in the event of a strike,” says firefighters union president Alex Forrest.

Alex Forrest, president of the firefighters union, posted a message on his Facebook page Thursday morning stating a firefighter had been instructed to report to the fire paramedic 911 dispatch centre for training so the firefighter could replace a potential striking CUPE worker.

Firefighters will not be used as strike-breakers and will not do the work of CUPE members if they go on strike, he wrote.

"I just wanted to confirm that no firefighters will be involved in CUPE work or training in the event of a strike," Forrest told the Free Press. "We will not do another bargaining unit’s work in a strike situation. It’s in our collective agreement."

CUPE 500 members will be voting June 7 on what’s been described as an "offer of settlement" — a deal CUPE 500 president Gord Delbridge said isn’t good enough.

CUPE 500 represents about 4,600 civic workers employed in a variety of positions at most departments across city hall.

Delbridge said he’s not pleased with the city’s efforts to train other civic staff to do the work of his members, predicting the outcome will be disastrous if the administration continues in such a manner.

"If (city hall) continues down this course, they will be inviting a strike and this will be on the city," he said. "This must stop."

A senior civic official confirmed the city has been training replacement staff for several months in the event of a strike.

Michael Jack, the chief corporate services officer, said the city has been training middle managers — members of the Winnipeg Association of Public Service Officers — and union-exempt staff members as replacement workers.

A strike by CUPE 500 will severely impact the ability of the city to deliver a wide range of civic services, Jack said, adding city hall is concentrating on training replacement staff for what's considered to be essential services.

"If there is a strike by CUPE there will be service impacts — there simply have to be," Jack told reporters at a noon-hour news conference. "What we are preparing for is ensuring the most essential services will continue, that Winnipeggers are protected in terms of life safety (and) property protection. That’s a process we’ve been on for months now, in terms of service continuity and strike preparedness."

There is a provision in the WAPSO contract that allows its members to volunteer to take on CUPE 500 duties in the event of a strike, he said.

"We’ve had a pretty encouraging response from the voluntary re-assignment/redeployment from WAPSO and WAPSO-exempt members," Jack said.

Jack said there was a "miscommunication" involving the firefighter from earlier Thursday, noting the firefighter was told he was being trained as a replacement worker when that wasn't the case.

The city will not be training firefighters to replacing striking CUPE 500 workers, he said.

A civic spokesman said of the 72 employees at the fire paramedic 911 dispatch centre, 26 are CUPE 500 members. Of the rest, 38 staff members are with the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union, and eight are part of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Senior Officers Association.

Delbridge said the administration took steps earlier this week to have CUPE 500 workers train their supervisors, a move he said the union stopped.

"That’s not in our members’ job description — they don’t train their supervisors," he said.

Delbridge has received assurances from other civic unions, including those representing middle management and police, that their members will not perform CUPE 500 work in the event of a strike, he said.

Most residents don’t realize CUPE 500 members are involved in almost every civic department, adding many CUPE members are working within the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, Forrest said.

"This outlines just how disruptive a CUPE strike will be — it will even impact emergency services," he said.

The city will be ready to resume bargaining in the event CUPE 500 members reject the package put to them next week, Jack said, adding, however, that contrary to the message from the union, CUPE was not presented with a final offer.

"We have not made a final offer," Jack said. "We would still be at the bargaining table if CUPE were prepared to. However, at the last bargaining round, the last session, they took the offer on the table and decided that was the offer they were taking to their members. So we respect that and await the outcome."

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca