City doubles down on negotiation position

By Mark Squibb/August 12, 2022

With the ongoing CUPE Local 2099 strike now in it’s fifth week, neither the City nor the union seem willing to budge on their respective positions.

Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley brought forward an update on the negotiations during this week’s council meeting, which was held remotely and not at City Hall due to the strike.

“As a committee we acknowledge and understand the impact this labor disruption is having an effect on us all,” said Kieley, a member of the Corporate Services and Public Works committee. “We see that the fields of our community are empty, our facilities are closed, and programming is suspended, and we are being asked by many of you to get back to the table and get a deal. And let me be very clear and say, that is what we want as well.”

She said Mount Pearl employees receive competitive wages, a defined benefit pension plan, severance entitlement after 10 years of service, health and dental benefits, and a “more than reasonable sick leave allocation.”

“The City of Mount Pearl will always be a great place to work for both existing and new employees,” said Kieley. “As a steward of taxpayers dollars, it’s our job to ensure that our ongoing operations remain sustainable, and can be delivered within our existing budgets, and we do believe this can be achieved.”

Councillor Jim Locke then gave a financial update, referring back to the City’s 2021 audited financial statements, which painted a bleak picture of the City’s financial position in light of picketer’s demands.

“Last year, the City experienced a decrease in revenue coupled with an increase in expenses, and this is important for council to consider as we are now moving into the fifth week of the current labor disruption,” said Locke. “The decisions that we make now are going to have a lasting effect on the cost of operations for the short, the medium, and the long term for the City. And when this council brought forward the 2022 budget, we were open, and we were transparent about the budget pressures that the City is experiencing. With no anticipated increases in revenue for 2022, our mandate at the time, when we brought down the budget, was to maintain the current level of expenditure, while at the same time, striving to meet the changing needs of our community. And that objective remains intact as we negotiate out new collective agreement.”

Locke then pulled some detailed numbers out of the financial statement.

“The City’s revenue is not growing, and while we maintain a strong tax base, our taxation revenue has decreased year over year,” he noted. “Tax revenue is down over $2 million dollars in just a couple of years. Tax revenue hit a peak of $46.9 million in 2020. This decreased to $44.5 million in 2021, and is projected to be $44.1 million in 2022.”

Locke echoed Kieley’s comments on Mount Pearl’s competitive wages and benefits.

“But that high level of service comes at a cost,” said Locke. “Payroll expenditures remain the City’s largest expense, representing over $19.3 million dollars in 2021, which is just over 36 percent of the city’s overall budget. The cost of payroll related expenses had increased over $2 million dollars since 2018, and just over $ 6 million dollars in the last eight years since 2014. So, based on the reality of our reduced revenue and our rising cost of service delivery and payroll related expenditures, we must reach a collective agreement that can be delivered within our existing budget.”

Like Kieley, Locke acknowledged the strike is having a major impact on residents, and said he hoped an agreement can be reached soon.

Striking union members are picketing against a proposition by the City that new hires receive 12 paid sick days per year instead of the 21 sick days existing employees receive (which they say creates a two-tiered system), and a reduction in paid sick days from 21 to 18 for existing employees. The union also snubbed the City’s offer of a five percent pay increase over four years.

Mount Pearl spends over $43,000 on video surveillance

By Mark Squibb/August 12, 2022

City Hall is keeping an electronic eye on picketers as CUPE Local 2099 members continue to strike with no end in sight.

At this week’s public council meeting, the City was in receipt of two separate invoices from Provincial Investigative Services for video/security services, one for $24,880 and one for $19,029, for a total of $43,909.

“Notably there are two invoices from Provincial Investigative Services,” Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley pointed out to council during this week’s council meeting. “This is reflective of video surveillance costs from the current labor disruption. These services are instrumental in ensuring the safety of our workers crossing picket lines and performing the work of our city during this time.”

In other strike news, councillor Bill Antle noted that over 600 refunds have been issued because of the closure of facilities and cancellation of memberships and aquatics programs up to August 7 because of the strike, and that there are more to come.

“If you’ve registered or paid online, you should have received refunds automatically,” said Antle. “Anyone who registered or paid in person, would have been contacted regarding their refund. Please be patient as we’re working as fast as we can to get it all done.”

Additionally, the City continues to provide refunds weekly for cancelled facility bookings each week.

The strike, which was declared on Thursday, July 7, entered it’s fifth week on Thursday, August 12, with neither side budging from their respective positions.

Bevy of streets in for small repairs

By Mark Squibb/August 2, 2022

Mount Pearl City council approved Modern Paving Limited to complete some road repairs around the city for a bid price of $270,129 (HST Included).

The request for proposals closed on June 6 and two bids were received.

There was no discussion on the matter and the motion was passed unanimously.

The Pearl requested further clarification from the City, and in a follow up e-mail learned that the tender is for general isolated repairs on Centennial Street, Smallwood Drive, Kyle Avenue, Winston Avenue, Corey King Drive, Edinburgh Drive, Forest Avenue, Valleyview Avenue, Commonwealth Avenue, Parsons Avenue, Penmore Drive, Norma's Avenue, Topsail Road, and Topaz Place.

Strike disruption leaves some families in swim program feeling all wet

By Mark Squibb/August 5, 2022

When parents heard that swimming lessons, both four-week and eight-week sets, had been officially cancelled in Mount Pearl due to the ongoing strike by City workers, it seems their concern was whether they would have to re-register for lessons once the strike ends.

Councillor Isabelle Fry brought forward that concern during last week’s public meeting.

“I had a resident ask about the swimming cancellations and one of the difficulties they had when trying to register their kids for swimming is trying to get a spot, so they were wondering, when it’s rescheduled, will it be rescheduled for the same participants?” asked Fry. “Or will it be all from scratch again?”

The question went to Recreation and Community Safety Director Jason Collins.

“Unfortunately, we’ll be starting from scratch again,” said Collins. “Where this was part way through some lessons for some, and for some it hadn’t started, it was only a short four-week set, so we would do a full restart, and everyone would register again.”

Fry said that decision was “too bad,” while Mayor Dave Aker said that in the past the City has always worked with people to get them slotted in.

“In most cases, residents would get a spot and very few times, as you just indicated, a resident would not get a swimming spot,” said Collins. “It may not be their preferred (spot), but there’s always room for a spot for a participant.”

Aker said the City’s commitment is that no child will go without swimming lessons.

Councillor Jim Locke said he had heard the same concerns from residents, and he wondered if the schedule could just ‘spring forward’ once lessons resume so that folks can hold onto their spot.

“Their question was, can we just move the registration, rather than try and vie to get another spot, because their concern was that they may not get another spot,” said Locke, who added the City is ‘generally able’ to accommodate residents.

“So, we can’t just simply move the registration forward, but we’re confident that all of our children will be able to receive a spot for swimming lessons when they do resume, is that a safe assumption, Mr. Collins?” asked Locke.

“It is, but just a complicating factor for summer lessons is that summer lessons are reduced number wise,” said Collins. “Typically, there’s less registered. So, right now we’ve cancelled the July set, and the July and August set, the one that’s eight weeks. If, for instance, the next set of lessons starts in September, peoples’ schedules are totally changed so it might work for twenty precent of the people, but when it comes to school and fall and everything else, for many people it wouldn’t work, so it’s best, we feel, to just start from scratch and people would register again.”

Locke allowed that going back to open registration, with the confidence that residents should be able to secure a spot, made sense given how much people’s schedules will change in the fall.

Councillor Bill Antle noted that folks who have registered and paid online will automatically receive their refunds, while those who registered or paid in person will be contacted regarding their refund.

A decision regarding cancellation of fitness programs, such as aqua fit, deep-water fitness, Sculpt, and yoga, will be made in the coming weeks.

City issues statement addressing ongoing strike

By Mark Squibb/July 29, 2022

While other communities go full tilt with summer festivities and Come Home Year celebrations, Mount Pearl is focused on more mundane tasks like getting garbage collected in a timely manner, due to a union strike that has led over 200 CUPE workers to the picket lines.

The City issued a statement on Friday July 22, regarding the strike, which entered it’s fourth week this Thursday.

“The City of Mount Pearl respects the right of its unionized workforce to strike,” read the release. “They have the right to picket and the right to respectfully protest the City’s position within collective bargaining. However, in 2022, no one has the right to bully, intimidate, humiliate, or disrespect the non-bargaining workforce who are crossing the picket line each day to go to work.”

The release alleges that “there have been repeated instances of disrespectful behaviour that continue to go beyond legal picketing to bullying and intimidation. City managers, contracted workers, and staff with community groups have been followed, filmed, and physically confined while being ridiculed, taunted, and berated,” and calls upon CUPE Local 2099 to immediately stop such behaviour.

The release echoes the words of Mount Pearl Mayor Dave Aker, who told media outlets, including The Pearl, that there had been reports of picketers bullying and harassing staff members as they went to work.

In an interview with The Pearl last week, CUPE Local 2099 President Ken Turner said those accusations were a mere tactic used by the City to turn the general public against picketers.

In speaking with The Pearl, Aker said that City benefits are ‘second to none,’ including 42 days of paid leave (21 sick-days, 14 paid holidays, and seven special leave days) along with 15 to 30 days of annual vacation.

Those benefits, along with many others, are reiterated in the City’s statement — including management’s proposal that sick leave be reduced from 21 to 18 days for existing employees and that new hires receive 12 sick days instead of 21.

Turner, along with other union leaders both local and national, who spoke at a rally last week, said they refuse to accept a two-tiered system.

The City maintains that changes to the health and dental plan for either current or new employees has never been tabled.

Mount Pearl council pleased with Canada Day celebration

By Mark Squibb/July 29, 2022

Members of Mount Pearl council say that they are well pleased with the July 1 Canada Day celebrations.

“I just wanted to say, it was a beautiful day and such an incredible turnout, and it was really great to see people,” said councillor Isabelle Fry during a recent public meeting of council. “I just wanted to say thank you to all involved in making that day happen. It was well needed and well enjoyed.”

Councillor Mark Rice also spoke to the celebrations.

“We had a phenomenal turn out for Canada Day, and the weather was absolutely beautiful,” said Rice. “It’s so good to see everybody, the kids, and the families, over at St. David’s Field. You could see people smiling, and everybody getting back together.”

Mayor Dave Aker, who also tipped his hat to Public Works staff and other staff members who helped organize the celebration, added that he thought it was one of the biggest crowds gathered together for Canada Day yet.

“I believe our community has a huge thirst for those types of events coming out of COVID,” said Aker.

The City has not yet made a final decision as to whether next week’s City Days events will be cancelled or rejigged in light of the strike by its unionized workers, which has shuttered City buildings such as the Summit Centre and the Reid Community Centre.

Later in the meeting, council approved for payment two invoices related to the Canada Day concert: A bill for $9,200 to be paid to Change Enterprises Inc., (The Fables), and a bill totalling $5,750 to be paid to The Navigators, for a total of about $14,950.

Members of Mount Pearl City staff, council, and others raised the Pride Flag at City Hall in recognition of Pride Month for the very first time on Wednesday, June 13. The City expressed interest in raising the flag last Pride Month, but raising the flag required the City to update its Flag Policy, which didn’t describe guidelines for the use of a courtesy pole. The City did, however, hold the City’s first Pride in the Park event last year. City vehicles also proudly sport new Pride decals. Pride Month is held each June across North America and Europe to honour the 1969 Manhattan Stonewall Uprising, a series of riots and protests that erupted after New York City police raided the Stonewall Wall, a Greenwhich Village gay club, and arrested several patrons. At the time, engaging in homosexual behaviour was illegal.

Aker urges striking workers to return to bargaining table

By Mark Squibb/July 22, 2022

Two weeks into a City-wide strike that has led to shuttered City facilities, cancelled recreation programs, delayed essential services, and a postponement of the annual City Days celebrations, Mount Pearl Dave Aker says there is no end yet in sight.

“I can’t say exactly when we think this will be over,” said Aker. “The conciliator called us in (last week), both the union as well as the City. And frankly, much like all the negotiating sessions that we’ve had, the membership of CUPE did not want to talk about the items that were up for negotiations. So, therefore I guess you could say right now we’re at an impasse… The odd thing is, CUPE won’t negotiate with us. There are things that we’ve put on the table, and they refuse to talk about it. So, we’ve, at times, felt like we’re negotiating with ourselves… Negotiations can’t start with a refusal to talk about certain items.”

What those items are, Aker said he could not discuss in public.

“I would love to say more, but out of respect for the negotiation teams, Ken Turner and his team and Dana Spurrell and her team, it’s not wise to be negotiating in public,” said Aker. “But I can say that when it comes to benefits and the like, we are in no way changing the defined benefit pension plan or the health and dental plans. We’ve heard that out on social media, coming from many angles, but frankly we’re not changing those plans at all, they will continue as they are… We’ve also put a wage offer on the table.”

“One of the biggest roadblocks here is that CUPE wants to control the negotiations and they refuse to talk about many of the items that the City has proposed,” Aker concluded.

Aker did discuss some of the matters CUPE has taken issue with. The City has proposed that staff paid leave be reduced from 42 days annually to 39. That paid time off, said Aker, does not include the 15-30 days of vacation time enjoyed by staff.

“On top of that, we’ve proposed that anyone hired would come into the work force with 12 days sick leave (as opposed to 21 days for other employees),” said Aker. “Those folks would know what they’re being hired at.”

Aker added there is no cap on sick leave accumulation.

“At the end of the day, we find that our compensation package and our benefits are quite good at the City of Mount Pearl,” said Aker. “We provide education supports, we provide free memberships to swim in the Summit Centre and join the fitness centre up there, so we can sit back and say very, very confidently that our workers are valued, and they’re well-paid, and our benefit package is, frankly, I think second to none. And you talk about the two-tiered system, that’s not uncommon across the country. But I want to reiterate to residents, that that’s a proposal, and at the end of the day we need to negotiate that.”

He said staff morale is high, despite the picket lines, and council remains positive the City and CUPE will soon be back to the table.

On the heels of reports of numerous conflicts at the picket lines, Aker allowed the strike is not a pretty one.

“To be honest, I think it’s ugly right now,” said Aker when asked if he foresaw things turning ugly. “Sadly, some of the tactics that we see being employed go back to the early days of unions, which I respect, but frankly we’re in a different place right now and frankly there needs to be a little bit more respect on the picket line. So, today for example, there was a screaming match, a one-way screaming match on the picket line (at City Hall), and it’s just not right. We have a team that works with the City of Mount Pearl, a team of professionals, and frankly I think they’re being mistreated, they’re being bullied and harassed, and all they want to do is go to work… Some of the tactics being used, we wouldn’t teach our kids to behave that way. We would tell our kids to do the opposite. Even in a dispute, you have to be respectful, and you have to be professional. And we’re seeing this not only at the picket line, but there have been reported incidents throughout the city. But we’re not going to accept that… we expect the bullying and harassment to stop, and I really shouldn’t have to make that plea in this day and age, because I think most of us in society have accepted that bullying is wrong.”

Aker said tat he went to the media with accusations about picketers harassing female employees and lowering flags because the City could not make any headway with the union.

“When we asked for the flags not be flown at half mast, he (union head KenTurner) admitted it was wrong to be doing that, and he assured us it wouldn’t happen again,” said Aker. “But yet it did, the very next day. So, my take on it was that there wasn’t anybody in charge at times or there wasn’t enough control, and when our managers reported that they were being followed, we called them out on it, and frankly, I went public because the one-on-one wasn’t working. And coincidentally, all of the following that was occurring has stopped.”

Hearing about comments made by union leaders disparaging City leaders at a recent CUPE rally at the City Depot, including chants of ‘Aker the Faker,’ the mayor said such behaviour is childish.

“You have to stay above the fray,” said Aker. “I love the poetic side of some of the comments but it’s school yard stuff, and it’s attention seeking behaviour and I really don’t think it’s productive at the end of the day.”

NL CUPE president Sherry Hillier accused the City of trying to prevent a food truck from being at the rally, hefting out a hearty ‘Screw you’ to City CAO Dana Spurrell that was met with thunderous applause.

Aker said no one at the City had an issue with the rally, and he was not aware of any issues concerning the chip truck. Aker did note the regional fire department had to put out burn barrels at picket lines.

Aker said the City has not blocked access to picketer’s port-a-potties, despite the accusation by one union leader.

“Frankly, in some locations, like at City Hall, there’s ample washrooms nearby and CUPE has their own office there,” said Aker. “But down by Team Gushue, for example, where they want to set up, all our expectation is that if there’s a port-a-potty put there, it’s according to our regulations.”

Those regulations, said Aker, include emptying them regularly.

“When somebody applies for port-a-potties here in the City, out of respect they should check our regulations and come in and touch base with us,” said Aker. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a community group or CUPE, just follow the regulations.”

He said the City would be inclined to put port-a-potties near picket lines.

Squabbles about port-a-potties and chip trucks aside, its residents, especially those with children enrolled in summer reaction programs, who have bore the brunt of the strike action.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say that council acknowledges the impact it’s having on residents, and to be honest, we’re doing the best we can to minimize that impact,” said Aker. “But we acknowledge, that yes, there is an inconvenience, we’re trying our best to keep our core services going. So, right now we’re focusing mostly on waterline repairs as well as garbage.”

Many recreation events have been postponed, ported to another location, or cancelled outright.

When asked if he thought the strike was called just as summer recreation programs and Mount Pearl City Days were getting underway to put pressure on the City, Aker said he really couldn’t say.

“I would hope not,” said the mayor. “We’ve been negotiating since March. We didn’t put them out on strike. That was the decision of the union.”

“City Days is being postponed until after the labor dispute,” added Aker. “This wasn’t just ‘Come Home Year,’ this was really ‘Come Out Year,’ and it’s unfortunate that this labour dispute has caught the kids in between.”

One of the City’s concerns about going ahead with City Days with the strike on was the potential for any incidents between the public and strikers.

“Just think about it,” said the mayor. “It’s Sunday night, it’s City Days, the grand finale at one of the parks, there’s a beer tent down there, you’ve got security there, and you’ve got picketers, and you got people coming in for a good time, and maybe there’s a little bit of, I’m just imagining, would there be a little bit of obstruction? It’s a recipe that I don’t think puts us in a good place. So, council has decided to postpone and keep everybody healthy and safe for City Days weekend.”

Only when negotiations resume in earnest, concluded Aker, is there any sort of potential end in sight.

“And there’s no guarantee that if you negotiate, you’re going to reach a settlement. But if you’re not negotiating, you’re not going to reach a settlement. It’s just not going to happen,” he said.