'You could hear a pin drop': Contract vote derailed in Prince Albert after surprise disclosure from city
CTV
Inside workers in Prince Albert have delayed a vote on a tentative contract after the city disclosed surprise plans for “sweeping” structural changes to its workforce.
Inside workers in Prince Albert have delayed a vote on a tentative contract after the city disclosed surprise plans for “sweeping” structural changes to its workforce.
Employees with CUPE 882 were set to vote on a tentative agreement on Friday, after nearly three weeks on the picket line.
According to a spokesperson for CUPE, the city told the negotiating team on Friday it was planning to make significant changes to the job location and duties of a number of positions, including moving some clerks into a call centre established at the start of the strike.
The changes could potentially force some workers to be reclassified, accept layoffs, or to bump junior colleagues from their positions, CUPE says.
After seeing progress in the last week and a tentative deal struck on Tuesday, CUPE said they felt blindsided by the move.
“The fact that the employer was sitting there withholding information damages the relationship … It is quite devastating for the employees,” said CUPE national spokesperson Mira Lewis.
“When we announced to the membership what had happened you could hear a pin drop.”
