At yesterday’s monthly membership meeting, following delivery of the ETS negotiations report, a motion came from the floor to authorize strike action against the city.

That motion was seconded, roundly discussed and voted on. The result was practically unanimous to support the motion. So, what does it all mean?

There are a number of required steps to be taken before an official vote can be taken. We’re not there yet. And even when (if) we DO get there, it must be a Board Supervised vote.

No, this vote is a super clear message to our employer that we DO mean business. Their ingoing monetary proposal does not reflect our reality. And it’s a message to your negotiating team that the membership have their backs.

We’ll continue to negotiate and we’ll continue to keep you updated as we go. This is YOUR contract. You have a right to know what’s going on. And if you want to attend negotiations to actually witness what’s going on for yourself, please contact daryll@atu569.ca

To be clear, here’s how an official strike vote goes:

• Negotiations stall
• Mediation occurs and is completed unsuccessfully
• 14 Day cooling off period
• Application for a Labour Board Supervised strike vote

In Solidarity,

Steve