Complaints about union behaviour should go to CUPE, says City of P.A.

“Our members and local leadership are now dedicated to returning to work, leaving the ordeal behind us, and serving the residents of Prince Albert. As such, we are incredibly disappointed with the tone and timing of the City of Prince Albert’s media release,” said Janice Janzen with CUPE National.

Janzen works for CUPE National in the Prince Albert office.

She acknowledged some moments were stressful and heated but said that was made more difficult by the employer, “who showed little interest in building a harmonious relationship with staff.”

“The situation at the Little Mermaid production was regrettable. We issued an apology at that time and took immediate action to defuse the situation and moved the picket line away from that location,” Janzen said.

Just over a week ago, as the strike was winding down and the union waited for council to ratify the deal, some picketers chose to block access to the EA Rawlinson Centre as school students were arriving for a showing of The Little Mermaid.

One of the buses was dropping off students with disabilities and the children were forced to disembark onto a sidewalk while the bus was parked on a busy street. Concerns were elevated because of the freezing rain that was falling at the same time.

The line was moved shortly after the union was called which paNOW confirmed by returning to the Arts Centre again after calling the union for comment.

Bear acknowledges that the public and parents of the children have been calling the city and hoping for some resolution of the problem.

“What we heard is that they feel that in some ways we’ve left it unaddressed, we haven’t acknowledged it as wrong formally and I think they felt we were too silent on it. Particularly in children with disabilities,” said Bear.

“I would have expected that CUPE National would have demanded better of their members during the strike and established and enforced some respectable standards of conduct,” said Sherry Person, City Manager. “It is one thing to walk off the job. It is quite another to intimidate, harass and block access to children, seniors, and children with disabilities.”

The city also said that most of the undesirable behaviour happened at the EA Rawlinson Centre with videos being shared of picketers blocking access to the Centre’s parking lot.

When employees showed up to work on Tuesday, the first thing management did was have a meeting to discuss the mood going forward.

“It starts with respect, and we held a meeting the first day back to speak to employees about this,” Bear said. “The second thing is focusing on the work because, at the end of the day, we all report to the City of Prince Albert to do a job.”

CUPE responded that they too want to repair the relationship but that the job is made more difficult if the employer continues to take “potshots” at their employees.

“We want to emphasize that mending the relationship between the city and its workers is not only crucial for the morale and job satisfaction of the workers but also vital for the effective and efficient delivery of services to the community,” said Jensen.

This strike by CUPE 882 was the first in the City of Prince Albert’s history.

Its second union, CUPE 160 which represents outside workers, has also approved a strike mandate meaning they can walk off the job if negotiations don’t improve.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Complaints about union behaviour should go to CUPE, says City of P.A.

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