Amherstburg Issues Open Letter To Residents Regarding Potential Work Stoppage

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The Town of Amherstburg has issued a letter to residents regarding a potential work stoppage in the the town.

You can read the full letter here:

The Town is proposing a fair collective agreement, an agreement that respects the workers of the Town and the residents, an agreement that will assist Amherstburg in managing our financial obligations going forward. Our proposal does not seek wage concessions and in fact proposes the addition of full time jobs to the Town’s unionized workforce.

On Thursday, February 4th the Town and IBEW Local 636 will meet with a mediator in an attempt to reach a collective agreement. The mediator is an individual appointed by the Ontario Ministry of Labour to help the Town and Union resolve their differences so that we can hopefully reach a collective agreement. A previous meeting was held with a Ministry of Labour conciliation officer on January 12th, 2016. At that meeting the Union and Town resolved a number of issues through the assistance of the conciliator; however, in the end, the Union requested that a “No Board” report be issued. The Union will have the right to strike, after a mandatory 17-day period, following the issuance of the no board report.

Throughout the negotiation process the Town has been ready and willing to meet with the Union to have productive, meaningful discussions that would hopefully lead to a collective agreement. The Town has presented offers to the Union that we believe are fair and reflective of the municipal trends and agreements, but most importantly, are in the best interest of you, the taxpayer. We believe the Town’s position to be fair and reflective of municipal agreement trends, while maintaining the importance of taxpayer’s ability to pay.

We are hopeful that February 4th will be a productive day of negotiations, resulting in a new collective agreement that reflects the employees’ right to fair compensation and recognizes the current financial challenges born by the residents of the Town. However we are mindful of the collective bargaining process and fully respect the employees’ right to strike. In the event of a work stoppage by the Union, the Town will continue to deliver all Municipal services to the best of our abilities. In the event this should occur we ask taxpayers and customers to be patient until the work stoppage is resolved.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Giovanni (John) Miceli, Chief Administrative Officer, Town of Amherstburg , (519)736-0012 ext 2228 or via email [email protected].