This Week at Council: The People Have Budget Thoughts Too

This week was budget delegation night, and while that’s always a busy occasion, this one was even busier. Blame the Strong Mayor Powered budget and some of the things cut or delayed, which got a great many community members very concerned about potentially lost opportunities, but before all that stuff, some unfinished business! A very special meeting of council was convened to take care of some labour matters. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: The People Have Budget Thoughts Too”

RECAP: City Council Meeting for November 19, 2024

Two meetings in one this week! You can click here and here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here and here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for November 19, 2024”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the Additional November 19, 2024 Meeting?

What’s this? A surprise meeting? Yes, an additional meeting agenda for this coming Tuesday appeared on the council calendar Friday with exactly two items on it. The first is a resolution to a labour matter that’s been the source of much stress lately, and the other is a bit of unfinished business from the meeting earlier this week. For all the completionists out there, here’s the preview of this new meeting! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the Additional November 19, 2024 Meeting?”

CUPE Education Workers Ratify New Deal with Ontario Government

Closing the door on an especially contentious negotiating period in the long, sad history of contentious negotiations between education workers and the provincial government, the deal between the Government of Ontario and 55,000 education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees has been ratified. Out of the 41,559 members that voted, 30,330 – or 73 per cent – have said that they are accepting the deal. Continue reading “CUPE Education Workers Ratify New Deal with Ontario Government”

The Strike is Cancelled! CUPE and ON Gov Reach Agreement!!

Stop the presses (not that there are many actual presses anymore), but there’s late breaking news on a Sunday night! Although most places in the province were prepared for job action at their local schools starting Monday, a literal last minute deal between the Ontario Ministry of Education and the negotiating team representing 55,000 education workers has been reached. Continue reading “The Strike is Cancelled! CUPE and ON Gov Reach Agreement!!”

Ford Blinks! CUPE Agrees to End Strike After Gov Promises to Revoke Bill 28

Monday dawned with another day of job action by education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), but now it will be the last day too. In a sudden press conference at Queen’s Park this morning, Premier Doug Ford said that his government will move to revoke the highly controversial Bill 28 that imposed a new contract on CUPE using the notwithstanding clause if the school workers promise to return to work. Continue reading “Ford Blinks! CUPE Agrees to End Strike After Gov Promises to Revoke Bill 28”

Big Support for Local CUPE Workers Demonstrating Outside Schreiner’s Office

Sometimes it seemed like the honking never stopped along Woolwich Street. On Friday afternoon, as over 100 people demonstrated in front of the constituency office of Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner, almost every other car that drove by honked to show support for the local striking members of the Canadian Union of Public Employee. The takeaway message from the union is that they’ve got the support of the people. Continue reading “Big Support for Local CUPE Workers Demonstrating Outside Schreiner’s Office”

Strike Averted for VIA as All Sides Reach New Deal

It wasn’t exactly the eleventh hour, but a new deal was reached overnight between VIA Rail and Unifor Council 4000 and Local 100, who represent over 2,000 workers with the passenger rail service. This draws to a close days of uncertainty as VIA management, workers and passengers counted down to a strike deadline Sunday at midnight, and then counted down three other deadlines before a deal was finally reached. Continue reading “Strike Averted for VIA as All Sides Reach New Deal”

VIA Workers Could Be on Strike on Monday Without a Deal

We’ve heard a lot about the issues at the airport lately, and we know that high gas prices have made car travel less than ideal right now too. So we’ve got the planes, we’ve got the automobiles, but what about the trains? Well, there are some problems there too. Before the weekend is out, hundreds of VIA Rail employees might be on strike after reaching an impasse on a new contract with management. Continue reading “VIA Workers Could Be on Strike on Monday Without a Deal”

ONgov Offers Nurses $5,000 to Stick Around, Many Unimpressed

Nurses. We say they’re our heroes, but is that how we treat them? Through the course of the pandemic, many politicians, activists, and nursing representatives have said we don’t treat them like heroes, and that responsibility has been thrown at the feet of the Ontario government. So on Monday, the health minister literally raised the ante by $5,000, which will be made available to Ontario’s nurses if they stay in the nursing business. Continue reading “ONgov Offers Nurses $5,000 to Stick Around, Many Unimpressed”