Expensive arbitration?

A union president believes the city could waste tens of thousands of dollars going to arbitration with its homes for the aged workers.

Canadian Auto Workers Union Local 229 president Kari Jefford, who represents more than 600 of the city’s old-age home workers, said a scheduled arbitration meeting on Sept. 22 came about after talks broke off in January.

"We couldn’t come to an agreement," Jefford said. "The city and the union were very far apart."

It will be the first time in the union’s history that it will go to arbitration with the city of Thunder Bay.

Jefford said because the last two collective agreements were about severance due to the city’s de-listed homes, there were no salary increases.

"These city workers haven’t seen any increase to any of their compensation packages for, I would say, close to seven or eight years now," Jefford said. "That’s really not fair."

While both sides have always been willing to talk, city administration has a zero per cent increase mandate that they refuse to budge from, Jefford said.

The union has shown the city examples of other workers in other municipality-run homes throughout the province who have been awarded increases through arbitration. Jefford believes the reason the city won’t offer increases through negotiations is because that will set a precedent when bargaining with other unions in the city.

"The city’s still not moving off this mandate," she said.

An arbitration order would be retroactive to June 10. All the union wants is what other places have received Jefford said.

"We’re not asking for the sun, the moon and the stars. We’re asking for a fair working wage," Jefford said.


City human resources manager Alan Hjorth said while he tries not to bargain through the media, the union’s statements are not accurate when it comes to salary increases and needed correcting.

In an email sent to Dougall Media, Hjorth said from 2003 to 2007, the city’s homes employees received a 2.5 per cent increase every year. The increase dropped to 2 per cent in 2008 and 2009.

Hjorth said the union is also aware that the city does not have a mandate to freeze wages.
"That would be the extent of my comments," Hjorth’s states in the email. He added that arbitration could cost the city up to $40,000.