Union reaches tentative deal with City
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on October 25, 2024.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
A tentative agreement has been reached between CUPE Local 70 and the City of Lethbridge after mediation on Wednesday.
A joint statement on Thursday by CUPE Local 70 president Sue Gouw and City of Lethbridge team lead Garrett Anderson stated that “The City of Lethbridge and CUPE Local 70 are pleased to confirm that a tentative agreement has been reached between the parties. No further details will be provided until the union has had an opportunity to present the tentative deal to their membership.”
On Thursday morning, city council had a closed meeting for a labour negotiations update before the Governance Standing Policy Committee met at 12:30 p.m.
CUPE Local 70 represents more than 900 City workers in a wide range of departments.
A union representative on Wednesday said negotiations had been ongoing for 20 months.
Numerous issues prompted mediation including cost of living and what the union called precarious work – jobs involving temporary or seasonal workers for whom the union was trying to secure permanent positions so they could have stability.
8-7
How much more do the bewildered tax payers have to cough up.
This particular contract was up for negotiation for almost 2 years. In all of this, it is to be remembered that the UCP government has underfunded and done cutbacks to all municipalities, thus affecting contract negotiations? Increased cost of living, alone, has to be considered. Also, this UCP government is openly hostile to all public-sector unions. While it would be denied that the UCP government is not directly involved in contract negotiations, actually, they are. At this point, we need not suffer any illusions that this UCP government would do anything to negatively affect public-sector union negotiations including trying to prevent the right to strike.
This is all too familiar to myself, a now associate member of United Nurses of Alberta and past years of dealing with hostile right wing Alberta governments.