Municipal service workers in Saint John ready to strike

Two years after the CUPE strike votes cast in September 2021 that led to the historic province-wide labour walk-out, a CUPE local in Saint John is prepared to put up a picket.

On Wednesday this week, 126 out of 133 eligible voting members of CUPE 486 voted in support of a strike. The workers, mostly women, fill a wide variety of municipal roles, from office administrators to business analysts, plumbing inspectors, community services coordinators and many others.

The two sides have been at the bargaining table for almost two years, since before the contract expired in December 2021. The only disputed item now is wages. The City of Saint John is trying to enforce a contract on CUPE 486 that violates the City’s own Wage Escalation Policy, despite following the policy in agreements for other, mostly male, workers. The Wage Escalation Policy would use the three-year rolling average of the City’s assessment-based growth.

In contrast, the City’s offer “essentially amounts to a wage reduction for us,” said Brittany Doyle, CUPE local 486 president. “We are simply advocating for fairness; asking for a cost-of-living adjustment is not an unreasonable request. During the City’s years of financial crisis, we played our part in contributing to cost reductions, particularly in pension conversions, wages restraints, and reduced services, we were an integral part of the sustainability plan.”

“We were in a legal position to take the strike votes since August 12. We were hoping to get back to the table with the City, but the City refused to get back to the table with us,” said Mike Davidson, CUPE servicing representative.

CUPE 486 remains hopeful that the strike vote results of 95% in favour will bring the City back to the negotiations and honour its Wage Escalation Policy directives. “If the City comes to its senses, we’d have this done in an hour,” Davidson continued. “But the city seems to be digging in and, you know, for whatever reason, we’re really not sure other than personalities.”

Doyle agreed: “We hope the City comes to their senses and negotiates a fair and reasonable wage package that reflects a balance between wage escalation and cost of living and avoids an unnecessary strike.”

The City of Saint John has a history of trying to pay its municipal workers less than they deserve. For example, in 2020, just before the pandemic, Saint John was blaming its municipal workers for the City’s poor financial situation and proposing to cut city services. At the time, CUPE maintained that all services could be kept if a fair property tax structure was imposed, raising taxes for heavy industry to the national average without raising residential taxes.

Now, however, the City’s financial situation has greatly improved, with Saint John experiencing growth in both population and revenue. But wages for municipal workers have not caught up. “Despite a 15% increase in tax base the last two years that has added a staggering $123 million increase in tax base revenue, the City also has hidden $37.5 million in a slush fund,” said CUPE’s Davidson.

Given the improved financial situation, “we don’t know why the City is forcing a needless strike on the citizens and businesses in Saint John,” added Doyle.

Susan O’Donnell writes for the NB Media Co-op.