Striking CUPE Bonfield municipal employees, angry residents, prevent Bonfield council from holding special meeting

By GORD YOUNG, The Nugget

Friday, August 16, 2013

Striking municipal employees and angry residents prevented Bonfield council from holding a special meeting Thursday where they were expected to give themselves the authority to hire replacement workers.

Council members arriving at the parish hall for the 4 p.m. meeting were greeted by members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and residents, objecting to the both the timing and notification of the gathering.

The protesting forced the meeting to be cancelled, leaving Mayor Randy McLaren outside parish hall where he spoke to workers and responded to questions and concerns from residents upset about the labour dispute.

CUPE, which represents the 16 striking municipal workers, warned leading up to the meeting that council was making plans to “hire scabs and prolong the strike,” accusing McLaren of being underhanded by calling a 4 p.m. special meeting on short notice in order to avoid public scrutiny.

“Now he’s avoiding the public by scheduling meetings at inconvenient times for the public to avoid hearing from the residents about the strike. The only way this strike will end is at the bargaining table. Avoiding the public, cancelling meetings and hiring scabs will only prolong the strike and aggravate the already heated situation,” said CUPE national representative Steve Boyle, in a release.

Boyle later said the move by council to give itself authority to hire replacement workers is a huge step backwards and that it reeks of an attempt to break the union.

But McLaren said there’s no immediate intention to hire outside workers and that move would simply give municipal politicians the legal authority do so.

Such powers, he said, may be needed in the case of an emergency or extreme weather.

“We’re not trying to escalate tensions,” said McLaren, acknowledging the meeting agenda likely wasn’t going to be well received by striking workers and their supporters.

Also on Thursday’s agenda were several other strike-related items, including amending signing authorities and authorizing council to write cheques in order to do business.

In addition, a resolution to expand the authority of designated members of council was also to be discussed, something McLaren said essentially formalizes the hands-on role he and other township politicians have assumed during the strike, such as operating the landfill.

He said the Ministry of Municipal Affairs advised the municipality to take the steps early on as part of its strike plan. And McLaren noted the labour dispute has gone on now for two weeks.

The municipaliy’s16 workers have been off the job since Aug. 1, affecting services such as road maintenance, tax payments, building permits, inspections, planning services and general inquiries.

CUPE says key issues are the threat of contracting out and a list of concessions demanded from the municipality including attacks on seniority, training, employment security, scheduling, vacations, sick leave and benefits.

McLaren has said there are some 40 outstanding issues and the municipality is seeking changes to the existing collective agreement, including reducing the number of bankable sick days to which employees are entitled, increasing the length of service required for additional vacation entitlement and extending the probationary period for new hires. He has also acknowledged the municipality has proposed language that would allow it to contract hire.

But McLaren has said there is no intention of contracting out core services.

gord.young@sunmedia