Thousands 'willing to walk' if negotiations with City of Winnipeg don't bring higher wages: union

Thousands of workers from 311, 911, recreational services, water and waste, traffic and other municipal services are ready to walk off the job if negotiations with the City of Winnipeg don't go their way this week, their union says.

On Monday, CUPE Local 500 posted a photo to social media saying it had established a strike headquarters.

"We haven't made the progress that we originally anticipated, and so we felt the need to escalate our planning," saidCUPE Local 500 president Gord Delbridge. "We're right there, we're ready to go."

Roughly 5,000workersare ready to take to the picket line, he said.Delbridge added there is a lot on the line if thecity doesn't come to the table during a meeting Thursday ready to offer higher wages.

Workers represented by CUPE Local 500 work across a range of city services that would experience significant impacts in the event of a strike. Delbridgesuggested recreational programming in city arenas, community centres and swimming pools would come to a halt.

"The members have been very loud and clear to us," he said. "They they're willing to walk."

"If municipal workers the CUPE municipal workers were to go on strike, it would be the first time they'd done [that] in over 100 years, since 1919. The impact would be significant."

The city and union began negotiations in the spring of 2021, shortly after the previous contractexpired. In July, 93 per cent of union membership voted in favour of a strike mandate.

CBC News reported at thetime that the city was offering less than two per cent wage increases for each year over the course of a four-year contract.

Delbridge said at the time, and repeated on Monday, that the offer isn't high enough in light of inflationary increases in the cost of living.

"The inflationary impact, we're willing to share it, but two per cent isn't sharing it,it's asking us to take the brunt of it, and working class people shouldn't be asked to take the brunt," he said.

Delbridge declined to provide more details when asked for specific terms being negotiatedbetween the city and union.

No committment on essential services

He said the city has asked the union to commit to keep a contingent of core staff on the job in essential services such as water and waste and traffic services, but Delbridge also said the union hasn't committed to any such deal yet.

CBC News has asked the city what contingency plans it has in place should CUPE Local 500 workers walk off the job soon, what the impact of such a walk off would have on services and whether there are plans in place to have non-CUPE employees fill in some non-critical service rolls if need be.

A spokesperson with the city responded saying collective bargaining continues, with the next session scheduled with a conciliator on Thursday.

"The city remains committed to making every reasonable effort to successfully negotiate an agreement with CUPE," said David Driedger, manager of corporate communications with the city.

Driedger declined to comment further, citing the continuing negotiations.