After days of "roller coaster" negotiations, and two extended strike deadlines, the city's outside workers have reached a tentative four-year agreement that should avert a garbage strike.
"It was very close. We came very, very close to packing it up," said Brian Cochrane, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 416. The union continued to negotiate beyond Friday's midnight deadline -- then Saturday's noon deadline -- because the negotiators had come too close to a deal to "throw the baby out with the bathwater," he said. "Things got ratty over the last 48 hours."
The past few days of negotiations were rocky, and members of the bargaining teams for both the union and the city missed sleep. The union is negotiating on behalf of 6,000 municipal workers, including garbage collectors, ferry workers, paramedics and pool and park workers. It also represents staff at water and sewage treatment plants, golf courses, some museums, day camps and community centres.
News of the agreement came at about noon yesterday. Rounds of applause could be heard from inside the closed-door sessions at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Don Mills.
Union representatives lauded the deal, saying it addressed all of their issues either in full or in part. City staff were also pleased, saying that they had not exceeded their mandate during negotiations.
Neither the union nor the city will release the details of the agreement, including the amount of the wage increase, until a vote is held to ratify the deal later this week. But Mr. Cochrane said that the numbers were in line with what other civil employees, including TTC workers, had recently received. In April, the TTC union negotiated wage increases of 2.75 per cent in 2005, 3 per cent in 2006, and 3.25 per cent in 2007.
Mayor David Miller said the deal is a fair increase for people who spend their lives working for the citizens of the city and "one that is good for the people of Toronto."
Mr. Miller was not at the negotiating table, but publicly told both sides to "find creative ways to get to yes," he said yesterday.
The new agreement includes great strides made in service and seniority issues, Mr. Cochrane said.
"There's a new respect as it relates to seniority rights," he said.
Workers would still be unable to choose the time and location of their shifts, an issue that Mr. Cochrane said the union will "live to fight another day."
Mr. Miller also commended negotiators who were creative with the issue of laying off and recalling temporary employees. Mr. Cochrane said many seasonal temporary jobs would be collapsed into permanent positions.
Many of the seniority and pay issues that threatened to turn Toronto into a citywide dump were left over from amalgamation, he said.
Bill Adams, the head of the city's negotiating team, called the 103-day negotiation period a "daily roller coaster."
"This is an excellent deal for the city," he said, adding that the four-year agreement, which is a year longer than most deals, will give the city greater stability.
In 2002, Toronto endured a garbage strike that left piles of trash in alleys and on streets. The 16-day strike was brought to an end by an arbitrator.
Both union leaders and city officials said the agreements were historic because they set down the foundation for a better relationship between the city and its workers. The negotiations were also noteworthy because they did not rely on outside arbitrators or 2002's oft-threatened back-to-work legislation.
Mr. Cochrane and Mr. Miller said that management and the union had laid down the framework for better relations in the future -- a far cry from the Mike Harris and Ernie Eves days when unions saw the municipal government as an enemy.
After the news conference, Mr. Miller pointed out that negotiators on both sides were getting together for a beer.
"Four years ago, that wouldn't have been possible," he said.