[Eug]

I'm noticing more and more of the City garbage bins around downtown being re-sealed, presumably by BIA's, neighbourhood associations etc. Garbage bags are being hung on the sides of many of the bins so that they can be easily changed. In the Church-Wellesley Village someone (the BIA?) has cut pink bristol board, placed it over the openings, wrote "FULL" and then taped them securely with clear packing tape, and provided garbage bags on the sides. Surprisingly I still see overflowing bins with garbage in front of them along Bloor St. between Yonge & Ave. Rd., someone should get with the program there!
Sealing the garbage bins similar to what I noted above also helps reduce the smell from the rotting garbage inside dramatically.

I was at the eggsmart at Bay and Elm this morning. The ?manager there went outside and swept up all the street garbage in front of the restaurant. She didn't touch the garbage bin itself or the open garbage bag someone had stuck to the side of it, but did clean all around it.

For that open garbage bag stuck to the side, it was almost empty, although it was only 7 am. I wonder if these are removed on a daily basis by the restaurants/stores/BIAs, with new fresh bags placed there every day.

Bay Street up to Wellesley (where I turned off Bay) seemed quite clean by the way, presumably thanks to the shop owners like these.

 

[cdr108]

"I am a patient man but I am close to the end of my rope," Mr. Ferguson said. "A few minutes ago I told the city negotiators that time is running out. We must have a settlement by midnight Sunday, or we are finished."
Asked what he meant by "we are finished," Mr. Ferguson said his union would stop negotiating and stay on strike until the city presents a deal it finds fair.

Since the contract b/t the City and union members expired in Winter 2008 (i believe January 2009), is there any obligation by the City to even renew/negotiate?
(serious Q ... i'm not versed in labour laws, etc)

The union has given us their ultimatum ... can't the City take that as their cue to outsource?

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Some peculiar quotes from CUPE 416 boss today:



First bolded - finished? Finished what? Finished striking? Finished with your jobs and you quit collectively?

Second bolded - threats and then leaving the bargaining table is hardly "serious"

Third/Fourth bolded - Isn't it called collective bargaining? Of course the city is bargaining.

I always thought that a strike was the double stamped it no erasies infinity, last resort to get a deal done. Now suddenly they can walk away from the bargaining table to up the 'ante'? Gimmie a break! What's next, if you don't give us what we want we'll stop pickiting too?!?!? This is getting rediculous and is beginning to look like the kid who picks up his ball and leaves when he doesn't get his way.

 

[Comedy_Landfill]

I have actually been incredibly surprised by how tidy the streets and garbage containers have been (contrary to the video I provided in this thread).

I realize that the dump sites are still intrusive and inconvenient to many people in the city, but the streets are being kept relatively clean.

I think that this as well as the weather conditions are very disadvantageous to CUPE. If there is no outcry to the Province to legislate arbitration, they are very quickly going to run out of rope. That is something that I, as a taxpaying Torontonian would be quite happy to see.

 

[MetroMan]

If the city doesn't do it, then the BIA's should: pool money from the businesses in an area and hire a private company to empty the trash bins. I'm sure the city could provide them with the keys.

Nonetheless, as mentioned, the streets are looking surprisingly clean (except for around bins) so I guess people are coming forward to sweep their streets.

If anything, this has been a test of endurance of the new garbage bins: plastic was a bad choice. Many in my area (King west) are tagged with black marker and the overflowing garbage has stained the plastic and it looks permanent.

Once the strike is over, Astral is going to have their work cut out for them in keeping with their contractual obligation of maintaining clean and functioning garbage bins.

While I didn't like the previous bins -- they were too big, were designed based on their advertising potential and had the icky flaps -- at least they were made of a durable and easy to power wash metal.

 

[Eug]

Since the contract b/t the City and union members expired in Winter 2008 (i believe January 2009), is there any obligation by the City to even renew/negotiate?
(serious Q ... i'm not versed in labour laws, etc)

The union has given us their ultimatum ... can't the City take that as their cue to outsource?

Good question.

Laws not withstanding, if the union were to terminate negotiations, this would be a great time politically to terminate the union and solicit bids for garbage collection.

 

[ducati0000]

Well the striking workers talking head is giving the city until midnight Sunday to give them what they want or they are walking away from the table.Let them, a lot of people are coping without their services but the social services a lot of poor people are missing is a problem.IMHO let them strike until labor day.The city will save enough money to buy those new shiny street cars by then.

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

I read this morning that the inside workers may be ready to settle, leaving Ferguson and the outdoor workers (416) isolated. Dividing that union into two bargaining units was a key development from the 2002 strike, and if the inside workers (local 79) settle, and if Miller holds out long enough, local 416 may actually be broken in half like a bad hockey stick. If that happens, as much as I dislike Miller, he may be looked back upon as a truly great mayor and this will all have been worth it.

 

[Automation Gallery]

as much as I dislike Miller, he may be looked back upon as a truly great mayor and this will all have been worth it.

I doubt he will be looked back as a great mayor. Having my garbage pile up and my kids summer camp cancelled , and having them stay home for 35 days also sucks.

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

Understandable, but you need to think in the long-term. If Miller holds out on 416, breaks them and their leadership, and is able to reign in a new labour regime (be it competitive bidding, lower salaries and benefits, or partial contracting out) then in the *long* term the city will be immeasurably better off than before. A new tone of fiscal accountabilty and restraint will supplant the old, broken model of fractious, economicially unviable labour arrangements. And so if Miller can accomplish that, and bequeath it to subsequent mayors whomever they may be, then he may be considered great for that reason *alone*, and no other. This may be Miller's Nixon-goes-to-China moment, as far as labour relations are concerned and can be only a good thing if it results in the long-term fiscal health of the city.

So yeah, I want this strike to end too, but I'll live with it if it brings about fundamental, structural improvements to the way things are done in this city.

 

[Janbe]

Which union is responsible for garbage.

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

Local 416 of CUPE. Local 79 represents the indoor workers. There used to be only one bargaining unit (hence more clout), but that ended after the 2002 strike, as I believe the indoor workers stopped wanting to have anything to do with the outside workers.

 

[andrejeffry]

VIA Rail strike ended after only 2 days. Look how fast the union buckled when the pink slips start flying.

Why don't we lay-off these CUPE workers?

 

[cdr108]

Windsor, Ont., civic strike ended

i didn't see this posted, so please ignore if it was mentioned already.

Windsor, Ont., civic strike ends
City services expected to resume Monday after 15 weeks off
Last Updated: Friday, July 24, 2009 | 7:20 PM ET
CBC News

About 1,800 striking civic workers in Windsor, Ont., voted in favour of a tentative deal with the city on Friday to end a 101-day job action that brought garbage collection and other services to a standstill.

Civic workers are seen picketing outside Windsor City Hall during the 15-week strike. (CBC)Although it did not release exact results, CUPE announced its members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the four-year agreement, which boosts wages by 6.3 per cent over the span of the agreement.

Negotiators for CUPE's two local unions reached the tentative deal early Thursday after more than 46 hours of bargaining. The union said it would not be recommending workers accept or reject the deal.

CUPE gave up on the contentious issue of post-retirement benefits for newly hired workers and in return agreed to wage increases and lump sum payments.

New employees will be able to opt in to a self-funded benefits program, CUPE said.
'A sigh of relief'
Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis said he was glad the lengthy strike had come to an end.

"It's been 15 weeks and it's been an experience that we don't wish on anyone," he said. "At the end of the day, I think all of us breathe a sigh of relief."

Ahead of the vote, CUPE Local 543 president Jean Fox said the union's membership should be proud of themselves. "They stood strong," Fox said.

There has been no garbage collection for 15 weeks. Other city services have also been shut down while the two sides tried to find an agreement.

Ronna Warsh, who's filling in as the top manager for the city, said the first priority is to get staff back to work as quickly as possible. Workers are expected to be back on the job by Monday.

"We can get our swimming pools filled and opened and our garbage gets moving again, opening of the child-care centres certainly, and social services," Warsh told CBC News on Friday.

"We get the caseload workers back and they can meet regularly with our people who are requiring help and find them jobs, which is a big priority for us."


I wonder if our city unions locals 416 and 79 have budged from their reluctance to give up the banked sick days during the 'last minute' negotiations this weekend?

 

[MetroMan]

VIA Rail strike ended after only 2 days. Look how fast the union buckled when the pink slips start flying.

Why don't we lay-off these CUPE workers?

The engineers -- who are the ones on strike -- weren't the ones getting fired. It was the support workers who were getting the pink slips because the engineers eliminated the need for their jobs.

I wish the law allowed Miller to come out and say: You're all fired. We're either outsourcing or we're hiring you back with a non-union clause. Unfortunately he can't, it's against the law.