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City Workers Strike 2009

kEiThZ said:
Worth repeating. Since we seem to be getting the same discussions over and over again on fair wages.
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Oh wow, a senior cashier makes $32.68/hour. Or $67,974/year.

I think the answer is not to privatize these jobs, but to give the mayor his own currency to pay the workers in. Instead of 32 dollars an hour they'd get 32 Miller Dollars an hour. So at first M1 would be worth $1, but who knows what inflation will do to the Miller Dollar after a few years of printing more M's to hire 1000 new workers here and there, and give all our unions the biggest raises in the known world...

btw, I'm sorry if this has already been suggested, I only read from page 1 to 40 or so when the strike ended.
 
"Promoter Sexual Health -38.38$/hour"

The hell? That better involve more than just handing out condoms.

"Landscape Technologist - 34.47$/hour"

Is that a gardener? They make it sound like the guy is engineering the space shuttle, not making sure the sprinklers work.

Somehow HVAC foremen are deemed more valuable than "early childhood educators", cause obviously being able to fasten nuts is more important than childhood education.

"Engineering Technologist Technician" sounds fancy.

"Mate - 29.37$/hour" What the hell is that?

"Recreationist - 29.37$/hour" sounds fun.

"Costume Technician - 26.39$/hour", is that a joke?

"Assistant Cashier CNS - 26.39$/hour". ASSISTANT?! What the hell does a cashier need an assistant for? They aren't exactly curing cancer.

"Reproduction Copier Operator - 26.39$/hour", please tell me the City doesn't hire people specifically to operate the xerox and I am just misinterpreting that.

It's ridiculous the other way, too. "Senior Planners for Policy and Research" only get paid like 50$/hour, roughly doulbe the high skill position of "weighscale operator" at 25$/hour. It is ridiculous that a position that (hopefully) requires a postgraduate degree and years of experience only pays double a job which consists of putting things on a scale and others that could be done by a lobotomized chimpanzee (receptionist, cook, clerks and ASSISTANT cashiers, never mind bona fide cashiers). No wonder public sectors can never retain talent, where is the future in it?
 
^ ^ ^
oh those people have it soooo tough :rolleyes:

chances are, they may also have a partner working for the City too ...
dual income $100-120K per year for high school drop out jobs !

funny thing i noticed about the news coverage during the strike ... the majority of City workers shown were grossly over-weight.
 
I hope we can now to put to rest the whole wage fairness argument.

One thing I don't get is why the professional workers stand for it. The City is effectively underpaying it's professional class to significantly overpay it's working class.
 
Whoaccio said:
"Landscape Technologist - 34.47$/hour"

Is that a gardener? They make it sound like the guy is engineering the space shuttle, not making sure the sprinklers work.
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Nope not a gardener they're more like landscape contractors. They would be in charge of construction and design of the landscape and gardens etc, and the job would require a university or college degree.
 
From Pam McConnell

TL;DR

Dear Dilla,

Thank you for your message on the ratification of the negotiated agreement.

Contract negotiations are typically challenging, and the recent negotiations with CUPE 79 and 416 were no different. All sides started with a goal of finding the best possible deal through bargaining, and in the end, everyone found a fair compromise. I feel that this settlement strikes an appropriate balance that is both fair to the workers and affordable to the City. It was always our goal to reach a contract that would save jobs, protect services, and stay within the City’s budget.

Throughout the strike, I worked on constituency matters as well as helping to find a resolution to the labour disruption. The Employee and Labour Relations Committee oversaw the mandate for our negotiators. As Vice-Char of that Committee, I remained involved and updated on the progress of negotiations. Our City negotiating teams did an excellent job of working towards an agreement that fit the mandate set for them by Council's committee.

All of the City’s negotiations took place within this framework approved by the Committee. The negotiators were obliged to work within this mandate, and any deal that was struck had to stick within these parameters. Our negotiators were successful in reaching a deal that fit within these boundaries.

The City’s position that was presented near the beginning of the strike was only the starting point, with the intention of negotiating towards a deal that was agreeable to all sides and fair to the workers and affordable for the City. Had Council voted down the agreement, negotiations would have moved to arbitration, which would have likely cost the City more and would not have addressed the issue of the sick benefits.

The City did not back down on the issue of banking sick days. This program was established in the 1960s by provincial legislation in order to address the shortage of workers and attempt to encourage them to continue working when they were sick. Wrapping up this long-held provision was not easy and required appropriate compensation for those who had banked sick days.

At the beginning of negotiations, the union did not want to discuss the issue at all. The unions felt that the banking of sick days protected the workers during rare and prolonged injury and illness. They also felt that the pay-out before retirement ensured that workers do not needlessly use up the sick days. The City felt that the number of sick days and the ability to bank them did not treat all of the sectors fairly. Employees in some sectors, such as child care and EMS, require more sick days because the nature of their work, whereas office workers are less likely to get sick or injured and miss work.

Through negotiations, we were able to find a way to phase out the banking of sick days while protecting employees who were forced to miss work due to a short term illness or injury. The negotiated deal also brings in workers previously not covered by a regular allotment of sick days and encourages all workers to stay home when ill. The gradual end to the banking of sick days will help alleviate the liability that the City currently carries and has a number of flexible payout options that will appeal to employees. This new plan is projected to save the City over $140 million over the next six years.

The gradual phase out and payout of the plan is not unusual. In fact, this is standard practice in other jurisdictions at the federal, provincial, and municipal orders of government. This phase out ensures an easy transition that is affordable for the City and fair to the workers.

Although reaching an agreement was difficult, the City and the unions were able to work together to find a compromise that is reasonable for the union workers and the City, but just as important, is affordable to Torontonians, since they pay the bills. I am grateful for the hard work and long hours from the negotiators on both sides of the bargaining table, and I am confident that we will be able to move forward together and keep this city working for everyone.

Thank you, once again, for your message. This labour disruption had an impact on all Torontonians, and I am pleased that we have found a reasonable resolution.

Sincerely,

Pam
Click to expand...

No surprises here...
 
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gabe said:
Nope not a gardener they're more like landscape contractors. They would be in charge of construction and design of the landscape and gardens etc, and the job would require a university or college degree.
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That's fine. And yeah they should be paid that much. I am still wondering what an assisstant cashier does. And if cashiers have assisstants then what do the cashiers do?
 
gabe said:
Nope not a gardener they're more like landscape contractors. They would be in charge of construction and design of the landscape and gardens etc, and the job would require a university or college degree.
Click to expand...

I thought that was "Landscape Architect", which is a separate wage class.
 
Whoaccio,

In fairness many of those jobs are professionals:

Promoter Sexual Health = Sexual Health Nurse

Landscape Technologist = contractor, contracts manager, professional landscaper, not gardener (hopefully).

Mate = Ship's mate...and that's a person you do not want to underpay....think BC Ferries disaster.

Costume Technician = Seamstresses are getting expensive these days. Though I struggle to understand why the city has a costume technician on its payroll. Does the city have that many costumes and gowns in its possession?

Reproduction Copier Operator = Xerox tech...and they are expensive. I seriously hope it's an actual technician and not a guy who photocopies for them. But here too, this is a job that can be outsourced. You don't see Business Depot or Kinko's keeping Xerox techs on staff.

The most revealing thing about this agreement, is the diversity of the city's workforce. There is clearly room for outsourcing and streamlining if the city has costume technicians and reproduction copier oprators on staff in addition to assistant cashiers. Even the federal civil service does not have anywhere near those kind of jobs and I have heard some ridiculous job titles in Ottawa.
 
Dilla,

You should respond to Pam's email with this..........

Dear Pam,

Your boundaries suck!
 
Somehow HVAC foremen are deemed more valuable than "early childhood educators", cause obviously being able to fasten nuts is more important than childhood education.
Click to expand...

This example is quite the stretch..
 
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