Tentative agreements reached between City of Brampton and CUPE, bringing five-day strike to a close

After five days on strike, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 831, which represents more than 1,200 full-time and temporary Brampton workers in multiple sectors, including transportation, road maintenance, animal control, theater, building inspections and permits, has reached a tentative agreement with the City.

The two sides collectively bargained on four agreements for: Professional and Technical; Temporary; Supervisor; and Service Delivery (transit) bargaining units.

Fabio Gazzola, President of CUPE Local 831, stated in a CUPE media release today that the agreements ensure fairness for CUPE members and will assist them to cope with high inflation, recognizing their importance to municipal operations.

“This agreement will help our members deal with the increased cost of living they’re facing and recognizes the work that they do.” 

Gazzola and his team had tried to bargain with the City for almost ten months to avoid the strike, and recently came under attack from Mayor Patrick Brown who used media outlets last week to spread misleading information, claiming the strike would be long and drawn out because the union was holding the City “hostage” and he would not cave to that.

His claims have proven to be incorrect.

“From the beginning, we have said that this strike was about fairness for our members and reaching a deal that is comparable to what others who work at the City of Brampton have received, and we have been able to reach an agreement that achieves that,” Gazzola said.

Brown said he is “pleased” that tentative agreements have been reached after claiming the City’s earlier offers were fair, comparing them to deals Mississauga recently gave CUPE workers. He failed to account for significant wage adjustments and other benefits above and beyond the economic increase Mississauga employees successfully demanded.

Gazzola had pointed out that Brown has overseen dramatic salary and benefit increases for non-union employees. Brown has been criticized and investigated (he cancelled the probes himself) for his own questionable spending and the lavish perks and benefits including for personal vehicles, doled out to management and his council allies.  

“From the beginning, we have said that this strike was about fairness for our members and reaching a deal that is comparable to what others who work at the City of Brampton have received, and we have been able to reach an agreement that achieves that,” Gazzola said Wednesday.

The tentative agreements between the City and CUPE indicated that all union members will receive compensation for the shifts they signed up for on the picket lines during the timeframe between the tentative agreement and its ratification, and they are not obligated to work until the ratification process by the membership has been finalized.

The ratification vote will be held on Friday.

CUPE has also advised all employees to return to work on November 16, if the agreements are ratified.

If approved, the agreements will be retroactively in effect from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2027.

The Local 831 workers have been without a contract since April 1, and despite putting forth nine proposals over 25 days, the City had done little to reach a bargaining agreement according to the union.

Gazzola said the agreement tackles many existing challenges; however, the wage offers did not change significantly, but the City agreed to solutions on key compensation issues. He could not disclose many specifics because the agreements have yet to be fully ratified.

"So basically, the wage compensation didn't really change. We were able to kind of address it in other capacities," he explained. "The challenge is, right now, I don't really want to get into too much of the details… but at the end of the day, this is a good deal to get members back to work."

The Local President said that based on the workers' schedules, if the agreement is approved on Friday, they will start work on Saturday or Monday.

Eric Bell, with CUPE Communications, said he presumes that if members of any of the four bargaining units vote against ratification, that group will continue on strike.

He told The Pointer that apart from financial benefits, the agreements include improvements in areas like contract language, benefits and vacations.

Gazzola said overall it was a deal he felt confident agreeing to.

"As I said, the bargaining committee worked hard. It was a tough round of bargaining. You know, the best deal is a deal, right?" 

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