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City of Toronto and Union Reach Early Deal on Garbage Strike

by Rob Walker | July 27, 2009 at 05:33 am

539 views | 26 Recommendations | 8 comments

The city of Toronto and union's representing the city's striking garbage workers have come to an early agreement.

The deal between the CUPE local 416, representing thousands of striking waste workers in Toronto, and the city's negotiators could end the strike that has left garbage on Toronto's streets for the last 35 days.

The union says an early agreement for outside workers has been reached, and will be brought to inside workers to go over. Until the inside workers sign it, a deal will not be reached.

After 35 long and miserable days, a deal was reached this morning to end the strike by Toronto's garbage collectors and other outside workers.
CUPE Local 416 president Mark Ferguson said the next step is for the city to make a deal with striking inside workers represented by CUPE Local 79.

Striking workers granted the City of Toronto a third extension earlier today to get a deal done or union negotiators planned to walk away from the bargaining table.

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Paschen

at 06:19 on July 27th, 2009

It is grant time this strike comes to an end.

I am not certain if this sort of strike is actually legitimate and moral or ethical or simply forcing the tax payers hand because they can.

Lu Galasso

at 08:28 on July 27th, 2009

I just hope the indoor workers sign this agreement so that the garbage workers can get out there and clean up our city. Enough is enough. The idea behind this strike is just ridiculous.

-- Lu Galasso

Kate Swo

at 11:05 on July 27th, 2009

Day 33, corner of Queen and Augusta

Kate Swo has contributed a photo to this story.

colinchapman1968

at 11:23 on July 27th, 2009

On a quick stroll from the Royal York Hotel to Starbucks at King and Yonge we were welcomed with the sights and smells of garbage. I had thought that the streets were to at least to be kept clean during the strike. I was wrong. The Starbucks staff were dropping bags off to the right of the overflowing city garbage and recycling bin as seen in the photo.

colinchapman1968 has contributed a photo to this story.

alfred ng

at 11:55 on July 27th, 2009

All my years living in Toronto, I never expect to write about how clean of the Chinatown is. The downtown Chinatown are full of food stores, restaurants and markets, often clean and tidy are not the words one would use to describe it. However, since the strike continues, the Chinatown BIA has taken over and hired their own clean up and garbage removal, our Chinatown has never looks better. This Saturday evening, after one of the busiest shopping day of the week, as I walk around Chinatown there were hardly any garbage! I will missed this very clean Chinatown when the city garbage workers resume to work

Blue Crush

at 13:42 on July 27th, 2009

Great news to hear! It was starting to feel like our residents were taken hostage by the politics of this strike. This strike affected not only garbage collection, but the ferry, city run daycare and recreation centres, and public parks as well.

My child's first reaction - "Yeah! Finally, I get to go swimming again!" But, how safe will it be to send our little ones to those parks, now soaked by chemicals to ward off the rats?

whiteacre

at 18:52 on July 27th, 2009

It is truly embarrassing that the only comments posted so far (and much of the broader city's reaction) is: how am I personally being inconvenienced by my entitlement to consume?

"It's smelly, it looks yucky. I want to pay less taxes so I can complete the dismantling of workers rights here and anywhere else capitalism can disrupt social relations to benefit my lifestyle."

With the strike nearly over, it'll be back to 'business' as usual. Also remember that as long as we continue to ignore historical processes, like the aestheticization of politics (ie define social space as an item to consume - implied by above posts), these public problems will persevere. I doubt there are many who work in the private sector unaffected by layoffs, corporate restructuring, job security, and watching CEO's and management walk away with ever greater returns.

By complaining about this strike and its affront to middle-class aesthetic sensibilities, you will ensure this attack on all workers rights will get worse.

for further reading, please see Infancy and History: on the destruction of experience.

MikePhotoGuy

at 18:56 on July 28th, 2009

What most people do not seem to understand is that BOTH Unions must bring the agreements forward to their members for ratification. Then if the Unionized workers agree to it, the deal must still be discussed and voted on in a special City Council meeting this Friday July 31.

The Union members could potentially NOT ratify the deal, if they feel they could get even more if they were to stay out a little longer. I doubt that will happen but it is a possibility.

A much more real possibility is that Toronto City Council which is always divided at the best of times will decide amongst themselves that the deal is simply one that the city cannot afford, and that there must be concessions of some kind and the City does not pass the deal. IF that was to happen, the workers would likely remain on the picket lines until a new deal is reached.

So this strike may not be over as quickly as some of us would like.