Public employee contract negotiations are breaking down in Cochrane, as around 60 CUPE workers with the township threatening to strike next month.
Local union members rejected an offer from the Town of Cochrane last week, after being without a contract since 2021. The town filed a no-board report with the province, prompting a 17-day countdown to either come to a deal, strike or be locked out.
Mayor Peter Politis said he gave CUPE Local 71 a fair and competitive deal, benchmarking against other northern municipalities and presumed to have come to an agreement.
Local union president Lyne Nolet said the bargaining committee informed the town that the deal presented likely wouldn’t hold up to a ratification vote – with members voting 96 per cent to strike in May.
“If you want a really ‘A1’ quality work, we need the employees to be able to afford living, afford working for the town,” said Nolet.
“We are proud of our community. All the union employees are first-line workers and they need to be valued.”
- Download the CTV News app now and get local alerts on your device
- Get local breaking news and updates sent to your email inbox
With wages making up around 60 per cent of the town’s budget, Politis said it cannot afford better, without compromising on services.
He said weekend hours, overtime and working holidays are necessary to keep services running smoothly.
“If we’re being told that our workers want the right to be able to decide whether they work or they don’t work at certain times […] we’re going to watch snow piling in the streets for three or four days, which I don’t think anybody would consider reasonable,” said Politis.
“We shook hands on the deal. Everybody supported, including the local president, so in that regard there’s something wrong.“
Nolet said members, including public works and daycare staff, are looking for cost-of-living wage boosts, amid high inflation and a better work-life balance.
Politis says there’s no room to negotiate further.
