With one potential strike looming, another group of city staff eye unionization
City council staff will likely vote to create a union next week
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."
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.
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