CORNWALL, Ontario – With no fruitful negotiations taking place between the City of Cornwall, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), paramedics, librarians and outside workers are now on strike.
“It certainly didn’t need to come to this,” said Amanda Palieps, president of paramedic local CUPE 5734, “but the City walked away from us on Tuesday afternoon and we didn’t see them or hear from them at all on Wednesday. We needed to be talking to hammer out a deal. It takes dialogue to bargain. Their absence tells us they were not serious about avoiding a strike.”
The local CUPE representing inside workers could be on strike next week as well if no agreement is reached between them and the City by May 23.
“The City made what they called a “final offer” on Tuesday,” said Alison Denis, CUPE National Representative. “Whatever they choose to call it, it contained all the same problems that yielded a 93% strike vote two months ago. Our members gave us a resounding direction with that strike vote. We’re very willing to try and find a resolution that works for both parties. But that would require the City to be here, actually bargaining. That is how this strike will get resolved.”
The paramedics are limited in their strike action by their shared service agreements. Instead of the usual compliment of nine ambulances coering Cornwall, there now will be only three.
Most of the striking employees have been without a contract since 2016. Cornwall library workers have been without a contract since 2015.
“Every time CUPE members answer an ambulance call, repair a water main, fill a pothole, or help a student find the right book at the library, they are choosing Cornwall,” said Kelly McKeegan, president of Local 234 (outside workers). “They love serving the community of Cornwall. But it’s going to take work to find the deal that will end this strike. We’re ready to do the work. Where’s the City?”
The City was originally offering the unions a zero percent pay increase on a one year contract, but that has since been taken off of the table.
