Around 5,000 city workers in Edmonton are preparing to walk off the job Thursday weeks after negotiations with the city reached an impasse.
In a statement Monday, Civic Service Union (CSU) 52 said it will serve a strike notice to the City of Edmonton and to the Edmonton Public Library at 11 am. today.
Picket lines will form Thursday morning, after the 72-hour notice period expires, the union said.
The union represents about 5,000 people who work throughout the City of Edmonton, along with about 950 library staff, who are covered by a separate collective agreement.
Union members at city hall include technical, professional, administrative and clerical workers such 911 operators, 311 dispatchers, project managers, accountants and clerks.
City officials have yet to comment on Monday’s development. Administration had previously applied for a lockout vote that would allow the city to trigger a lockout during a strike, to minimize disruption to city services.
Bargaining between the union and the city reached a stalemate last month and since then, talks have stalled.
In Monday’s statement, the union said no progress has been made as the city has not returned to the negotiating table.
Lanny Chudyk, president of CSU 52, said about 6,000 members in total are prepared to walk off the job Thursday.
He said members have felt repeatedly insulted by the city’s unwillingness to budge at the bargaining table.
When the city failed to resume negotiations over the weekend, it was the final straw, he said.
“It’s frustrating and insulting to my membership,” Chudyk said in an interview Monday.
“And bluntly, it is the City of Edmonton who is putting the public at risk and having the possibility of their services in a whole bunch of areas either being diminished or withdrawn.”
He said he remains hopeful, however, that the city will return to talks and make a better offer.
“CSU 52 is simply asking to get back to the table a fair and equitable agreement for my members,” Chudyk said.
“It certainly can be avoided but it can’t be avoided if the other side won’t talk to us.”
Coun. Tim Cartmell posted a statement to social media Monday saying council had been following the advice of the negotiation team to date.
“But that strategy has clearly failed,” he said. “Our unions and their leadership are our partners, not our opponents. We need to work collaboratively to get a contract in place.”
The collective agreement between the union and the city expired in December 2020 but remains in effect until the next agreement is negotiated and ratified.
A separate collective agreement, between the union and the library, also expired in December 2020.
Negotiations began to falter in January, when the union was informed that the city had ended mediation and triggered a mandatory two-week cooling off period.
Last month, with talks stalled, union members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike mandate.
In response, the city applied to the Alberta Labour Relations Board for an employer proposal vote, allowing workers to vote directly on what the city called its “best and final” offer.
The union made the results public last Friday. Most eligible members — 87.6 per cent — voted against the city’s proposal, opening the door to a strike or lockout.
The biggest sticking point has been wages. The employees affected by the ongoing negotiations have not had a wage increase since 2018.
The city’s latest proposal included a 7.25-per cent wage increase from 2021 through 2025, as well as items such as a commitment to hybrid work.
Chudyk said the impact of a strike would be widely felt by all Edmontonians. Union members manage some of the most critical business of the city, he said.
“The libraries will fully be affected,” he said. “For the City of Edmonton, CSU members touch every bit of the business, from police emergency communications to the ground level administrative support, for almost every piece of business that gets done.
“It’s regrettable that it has come to this, but our members have been more than patient and fair, asking for what is reasonable after five years of stagnant wages.”