City of Calgary inside workers accept 9.5% raise over three years

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The City of Calgary and its largest union have reached an agreement after months of stalled negotiations over a new contract — an impasse that nearly led to employees launching labour action in June.

D’Arcy Lanovaz, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 38 — which represents more than 5,000 of the city’s office and technical workers — said a majority of the union’s members voted at the end of June to ratify a settlement with the city for 2024 to 2026.

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“I’m excited to offer my heartfelt congratulations to all members for securing a fair and equitable contract,” Lanovaz said in a statement on CUPE Local 38’s website. “The work you do is integral to the health and vibrancy of our city. Be proud for knowing your worth and standing your ground.”

The settlement stipulates a 9.5 per cent pay bump for union members over three years: three per cent this year, followed by 3.25 per cent increases in 2025 and 2026.

It also tweaks the union’s work-from-home letter of understanding, allowing members to request to work from home for up to five days per week, as well as improvements to top-up maternity leave pay for the first 16 weeks.

“We want to thank and show our gratitude to our members for standing strong throughout this process,” said Cherise Stock, a business agent with CUPE Local 38.

“It was certainly a long road but we do believe we achieved a fair settlement. As an extension to that, we do want to thank Calgarians for showing their support for CUPE Local 38 by valuing the public services we provide.”

Agreement ends labour deadlock

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The ratification ends months of bargaining that stalled after CUPE Local 38’s previous collective agreement with the city expired at the end of 2023.

Earlier this year, negotiations over a new contract came to an impasse, despite third-party mediation. The deadlock led to CUPE Local 38 conducting a strike vote in May, which revealed a majority of union members supported labour action.

The union originally proposed a 10.5 per cent raise over three years; 4.5 per cent this year, 3.5 per cent in 2025 and three per cent in 2026. The city countered with an eight per cent raise (which administration later increased to nine per cent) over three years.

“While it is a change from our original proposal, we do feel at the end of the day that we have been able to reach a fair settlement for our members with a positive impact for members across the board,” Stock said.

After another breakdown in negotiations, Lanovaz warned in June that CUPE Local 38 was poised to declare a work-to-rule campaign.

That declaration would have seen city employees perform their work duties to a strict interpretation, meaning they would refuse working overtime or performing tasks that aren’t in their job description.

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Busy bargaining year for City of Calgary

While CUPE Local 38 has a new agreement with the city, the municipality is still in bargaining talks with most of its other public sector unions and associations over new contracts.

CUPE Local 37, which represents the city’s outside workers, ratified a new agreement in May, according to the union’s president, Matthew Sjogren.

But the city’s website shows the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 583, Calgary Police Association, Carpenters Union Local 2103, International Association of Firefighters Local 255 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 254 are all negotiating new contracts with the municipality, following the expiration of their collective agreements on Dec. 31, 2023, or earlier this year.

The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

sstrasser@postmedia.com

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