Latest news with #AMAPCEO
CTV News
2 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Tentative deal with province's AMAPCEO union workers approved
A new 3-year tentative deal has been reached with Association of Management, Administrative and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario (AMAPCEO). 'I am very pleased that we have reached a tentative agreement with AMAPCEO. Particularly in times of economic uncertainty, good-faith collective bargaining is a necessary and important process that benefits all parties,' said MPP York-Simcoe Minister Caroline Mulroney, president of the Treasury Board. Mulroney said the tentative agreement is part of Ontario's plan to build a competitive economy with stability across the public sector. 'We look forward to sharing details of the agreement once it has been fully ratified by both parties,' she said.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘NOT SUSTAINABLE': Toronto City Council staff push for unionization
We're finally seeing some meaningful unity at Toronto City Council – among the politicians' staff, anyway. Councillors' employees have filed to be represented by AMAPCEO, the union that represents workers in Ontario's public service and a number of workplaces tied to government. On Thursday, AMAPCEO put up a statement saying 60% of council staff had signed onto the effort, marking the first step toward unionization. A pro-union staffer, who agreed to speak to the Toronto Sun on the condition they not be identified, said the labour effort is essential to protect the 'most forgotten workers at City Hall.' 'We love the work that we do,' the person told the Sun, but added: 'Pay is very low, benefits are not really good, and so that results in high turnover.' Salaries for council staff start at just over $30,000, and many of them make less than $50,000, the source said. 'A lot of staffers here have families and kids, and it's just not sustainable for anyone,' the person added. Other issues include HR matters, such as overtime. 'Every councillor office is sort of their own individual island' in terms of working conditions and quality of management, the staffer said. AMAPCEO said the hypothetical bargaining unit would be made up of roughly 170 employees, including non-management staff in the mayor's office. Councillors' chiefs of staff would be excluded as management, the staffer told the Sun. City of Toronto inside workers seek extension of deadline to Monday City using soccer as backdrop for $7.5M social spending bonanza Employers increasingly prioritizing return to office, survey says In a confidential memo, leaked to the Sun, city clerk John Elvidge told councillors and Mayor Olivia Chow that while they don't have to stay neutral on unionization, as employers, they 'should tread very lightly.' 'The best advice is to remain neutral in tone and content and to avoid being brought into conversations in respect of the organizing drive,' the memo stated. Elvidge emphasized a need to ensure 'appropriate communications,' and added that 'any contemplation of discipline, termination, changes to remuneration or other terms and conditions of employment should be avoided or assessed with extreme caution,' given the extra scrutiny. The pro-union staffer said this process has been years in the making. While a lot of details have yet to be figured out, the staffer said the 'big vote' is next Thursday, and should workers choose to unionize, they can then begin clarifying their demands of City Hall. While a slate of pay raises would ultimately be paid for by Torontonians, the staffer said, 'In the long run, taxpayers benefit from council staffers that are effective and that are able to do the work in a good workplace.' 'We serve constituents, right?' the person said. 'We answer to taxpayers, to residents on the issues that they are facing.' While the move is unusual, it's not without precedent as New York City's council staff unionized in 2021. Those workers reportedly began organizing in 2016. That union, the Association of Legislative Employees, boasted in July 2024 that it had won salary gains for some 400 members, totalling $2.9 million US. (The ALE did not respond to a request for comment from the Sun.) That union has been politically active, voicing support for other labour movements and remote work as well as attending protest events and making social media posts about what it calls 'Israel's genocide' against Palestinians. Asked if a Toronto council workers union might take public political stances, the worker told the Sun 'that would be a conversation in the future,' but added, 'AMAPCEO is a non-partisan union, which is perfect for us, where we work for councillors who have different political beliefs from each other.' News of the push for unionization broke shortly after the City of Toronto tabled what it termed a final offer to CUPE Local 79, which represents some 27,000 municipal employees. The councillor's office employee who spoke to the Sun said while those events are unrelated, CUPE's work 'is a symbol for the staffers here.' jholmes@
CBC
07-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
With one potential strike looming, another group of city staff eye unionization
As the city faces the threat of strike involving thousands of employees, council staff are eyeing the creation of a union of their own, according to a website launched by a provincial public servants union. After more than 60 per cent of Toronto city council staff signed union cards, an application was filed to the Ontario Labour Relations Board Thursday for the employees to be represented by the Association of Management, Administrative and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario (AMAPCEO). Council staff includes employees who work for all city councillors and the mayor, according to the website, which was first reported on by TorontoToday. "Everyone deserves to have someone in their corner at work. These professionals work very hard serving the people of Toronto," AMAPCEO President and CEO Dave Bulmer said in a statement to CBC Toronto. "They're organizing for the degree of fairness and transparency that only union representation can deliver." WATCH | Why the affordability crisis is pushing workers to take job action: Why the affordability crisis is pushing workers to take job action 6 months ago Duration 7:57 There have been several high-profile labour disputes across Canada over the past year, from LCBO workers to rail employees to Air Canada pilots. CBC's Shannon Martin explains what's driving it — and what the future of the labour movement could look like. The move to create a new union at city hall comes as 30,000 city staff could soon be walking off the job and after the union representing Toronto Public Library workers recently voted in favour of a strike mandate. The city has started the necessary proceedings it must carry out under the Labour Relations Act — provincial legislation that facilitates collective bargaining between employers and employees — in response to the unionization application, a spokesperson said. The staff's unionization is not yet official. Now that the application has been filed, there will be a secret ballot vote among employees sometime next week. If a majority of people vote in favour, then city council staff will be unionized. The city won't know who voted for or against.
