Whitby Chief Administrative Officer Matt Gaskell has issued the following open letter to the Whitby community, providing an update on the delivery of Town services since CUPE Local 53 FT went on strike:

We are now more than one week into the CUPE Local 53 strike, and I want to take a moment to thank you, the Whitby community, for your ongoing patience.

I know that our services have looked a bit different over the past week and we’ve been asking a bit more from you, to support things like waste collection. I want you to know that our management and non-unionized staff are working around the clock to continue to deliver the essential services that you rely upon. What does that look like? Let me share a brief update on all the things we are doing right now to support our community.

We have teams redeployed and scheduled to work from open to close at each of our waste drop-off sites. These are the folks that greet you when you arrive, direct you through the site, and remove your garbage bags out of your vehicles. In just one week, they’ve moved more than 14,000 vehicles, that’s approximately 35 per cent of our regular collection, through the sites. I’ve personally been at these locations and was encouraged by the level of patience and understanding shown by residents who have come through. It’s great to see neighbours helping neighbours, continuing to demonstrate that Whitby is a community that cares.

At our Port Whitby Marina, we have a team working with members of our boating community to haul out their boats before the snow flies. This small but mighty team have taken out more boats in one day than would normally be expected.

We have supervisors and managers picking up waste in the downtown core and parks.

We have non-unionized facility and recreation staff working with our community partners to help them better understand what to expect, should this strike continue. For example, our non-union staff made more than 300 calls to Whitby seniors at the start of this strike to provide them with updates on service changes. We’ve also received letters of support from sports associations in Whitby who understand, more than most, our need to have greater flexibility in how we schedule staff to respond to community needs.  

We have managers in our By-law division ready to respond to any urgent or health and safety concerns.

Construction inspection and building inspections continue for critical, time sensitive projects.

We have crossing guards throughout the community helping to keep students safe as they make their way to and from school.

We also have a contact centre open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for urgent matters like a downed tree over a Town road. If you have an urgent concern and don’t know where to direct it, call 905-430-4346 and our team will try to get to you an answer to your question as quickly as possible.

The bottom line is, while things may look a bit different right now, we are here to support you, our community, in whatever way we can. You can be assured that we are preparing to support additional service delivery, like yard waste drop-off, contracted winter maintenance services, and recreation opportunities, like the International Silver Stick tournament, in the coming days should the CUPE strike continue.

We are also working hard to get back to the bargaining table to end this strike. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Town remains open to having meaningful discussions with the union to achieve a fair and reasonable tentative agreement, but it will take both parties willing to sincerely bargain for us to get there. The Town has modified its offer several times to address CUPE concerns, including proposed changes to scheduling and hours of work to ensure little to no impact on our current employees. We also tabled a substantial financial proposal – offering a 9.5 per cent wage increase over three years, an increase to shift premiums, and significant benefit improvements – to help compensate our employees for possible future scheduling changes, where necessary. This wage increase is better than many of the increases negotiated in other recent CUPE agreements. Unfortunately, as I shared in my most recent statement, the CUPE bargaining committee refuses to meet the employer part way on key matters of importance, leaving no room for common ground.

Whitby is experiencing tremendous growth, and our community is becoming more diverse. It is critically important that the Town can deliver programs and services when and where our residents need them. I want to reiterate that we value all Town of Whitby employees and the work they do to make our community an exceptional place to live. However, right now, CUPE Local 53 has veto power over all employee hours of work and schedules. That means less flexibility in how we can offer swimming lessons or hockey when our community wants them. It also means less flexibility in when roads are plowed during the winter. Like any modern employer, the Town needs the ability to staff our programs and services at times that work for our residents. I encourage you to join the more than 70,000 people who have visited our webpage at whitby.ca/2023LabourDisruption to learn more about why. It’s important that you have the facts and I encourage you to check back regularly for updates as this situation evolves. 

Again, the Town has put forward a fair and balanced offer that includes a 9.5 per cent wage increase over three years and significant benefit improvements. The sticking point is scheduling. Our community needs us to get back to the table, and soon, to get a deal that works for the community. We’re ready and open to having meaningful discussions with CUPE at any time. Until then, services might look a bit different but know that we will be out there working hard, as we always do, to deliver services that make a difference in our community.

More Information

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