Striking workers fill council chambers

Striking members of CUPE 882, which represents inside workers for the City of Prince Albert, filled the audience gallery of the council chambers and a good portion of the foyer during Monday’s meeting.

One member was told to leave the gallery after speaking out during the meeting, saying the motion to go in camera was shameful.

Council had just voted in favour of discussing a letter accusing Councillor Terra Lennox-Zepp of being in a conflict of interest over the strike issue.

The letter from resident Mike Henry called into question whether Lennox-Zepp was violating the rules by making a motion to have the city schedule a bargaining meeting with the union.

Lennox-Zepp’s husband works for CUPE National.

The letter was on the public portion of the agenda in printed form before councillors decided to have it go in camera along with Lennox-Zepp’s motion to schedule the meeting.

“Councillor Lennox-Zepp knows that labour relation matters are for good reason, legislate to be discussed in-camera,” said Councillor Blake Edwards, who made the motion to move the items into a closed meeting.

Edwards said he needed the administration’s advice before voting on the motion.

Lennox-Zepp replied that her motion was only to schedule a meeting and nothing more and that is not a negotiation, pointing out provincial legislation does say that internal negotiations should be in camera.

“Now is my motion that’s proposed to schedule a bargaining meeting between two parties, is that internal negotiations? Of course not, no,” she said.

She said giving administration the direction to schedule a meeting with the union is a governance issue and therefore is appropriate to debate publicly.

Most councillors disagreed with her, however.

“It is clearly an issue that needs to be discussed in camera. Yes, CUPE residents are residents and I get that however, we are here to make sure that we spend the taxpayer’s money wisely,” said Dennis Ogrodnick.

He pointed out that all of the decisions are made public once the negotiations are done and said that the motion gave direction to administration to discuss all outstanding issues, which would mean deciding what the outstanding issues are.

The observer who commented out loud that “this is absolutely shameful” several times was asked immediately to leave the meeting. No one from the gallery is allowed to speak during meetings unless given permission by the chairperson.

With between 40 and 50 members of the union or their supporters at the meeting, nine security staff were also on hand, seven inside the building and two outside.

Things have become heated between both parties with the union accusing Mayor Greg Dionne of bumping strikers with his vehicle and the city responding that the union is breaking its own code of conduct by allowing strikers to stand in front of vehicles

This video was sent to media of Mayor Greg Dionne’s vehicle attempting to leave city hall at the end of September.

Video footage shows Dionne’s red pickup leaving the lot and bumping two workers who deliberately walk in front of his vehicle. Neither worker reacted when being bumped.

The union has been on strike – the City of Prince Albert’s first ever strike – since September 11 over a one per cent discrepancy in wage amounts.

No motions or the results of council’s in camera discussion were available prior to publication.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Striking workers fill council chambers

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