CUPE 79 president Mike Maguire has taken City’s inside workers back to the bargaining table following what seems to have been an effective power play by Mayor Tory earlier today. Tory had the City’s contract proposal posted online and then held a news conference to tell employees and the public that the union was walking away from a good deal. Maguire is calling his walk-off the result of a mistake — the City’s offer was mislabeled he says — but it seems more likely he found himself with nowhere to go. “We have re-engaged with the mediator,” Maguire said. “I called the mediator immediately after we realized there had been a misunderstanding and clarified that misunderstanding. Today we will be providing the mediator responses to the city’s offer. Mayor Tory had put the feet of CUPE leaders to the fire. Tory spoke at a midday news conference making the point that the more than 20,000 CUPE employees have “good jobs” and that their working conditions will only get better as a result concessions in areas such as advanced scheduling which the City has agreed to implement. Some members will know their hours as much as six months in advance.
