The mayor’s office and CUPE Local 79, the union representing 21,000 of the city’s indoor workers, confirmed Saturday afternoon that the deadline has been extended to 12:01 a.m. Monday.
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This is the second time contract talks with the inside workers’ union have been extended.
“We are in discussions in an attempt to find a resolution for our members’ needs”, CUPE Local 79 President Tim Maguire told reporters on Saturday afternoon.
Maguire said the union is asking the city to “meet us halfway”.
On Friday morning, CUPE Local 416 bargaining team representative Matt Alloway told reporters that a tentative deal had been reached, just 11 hours after that union’s original strike deadline.
On Friday, the City avoided a labour disruption with its outside workers.
On Friday, Mr. Maguire warned that his union and the city were still “far apart” on key issues. The union is negotiating on issues like job stability, including more notice of shift schedules, guaranteed minimum hours and some workers getting full-time permanent status. Speaking from outside of the union negotiating room at the Sheraton Hotel, McGuire assured that “we’re deep into the process to find a settlement”.
“I hope that they understand that it has to be a deal that is fair to the members of Local 79, but also fair to the taxpayers and the citizens of Toronto”, he said, adding that he had a “positive outlook” about the talks.
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Details of that tentative agreement haven’t been released, pending a ratification vote from CUPE Local 416 membership.
