Toronto backtracks on return-to-office plans for city employees as Omicron spreads rumors
By Erica Chung 12 June 2016
Council on Wednesday evening moved forward in the negotiations with the City of Toronto’s employees over a “return-to-work” plan following a nine-month strike by employees in September and November 2014.
The latest move was a clarification from City Manager Peter Wallace that “staff will only return to work at the conclusion of negotiations and will not be given an additional three days after we have reached agreement.”
This is a significant change in position.
In October 2014, the City negotiated a $7.5 million wage agreement with the Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB). The TPSB agreed not to strike, and on October 11, 2014, workers received a $3,000 “first of their choice of vacation” for their employees.
The offer was part of the wage agreement, and workers received vacation pay to bring their annual salaries to $75,000.
At the end of the negotiation period, the City and TPSB had not achieved a wage increase.
Now, Mayor John Tory and Chief Mark Saunders have announced two-and-a-half months of talks in their latest bid to return employees to work.
The City has offered a $3,000 bonus, which the employees rejected.
A day before Wednesday night’s vote, the City added the following statement to its website:
“Our offer to staff was based on a new proposal, which is still working through the details and was not the original offer. When the City and TPSB agreed to the wage agreement, they agreed that employees would return to work together at the same rate of pay,” the statement said.
However, in a post on their Facebook page, Omicron Rios Inc. said the City’s statement was false, and that they were planning on implementing the $3,000 bonus.
This is false.
A