Last-minute negotiations between the City and CUPE inside and outside workers may turn on the so-called jobs-for-life issue. It is a provision of the present agreement which states that any employee with 15 years of seniority cannot lose his employment “as a result of contracting out or privatization.” Mayor Tory said late Monday the union had agreed to a “fixed sunset clause” four years ago, which meant that all employees with less than 15 years seniority as of December 31, 2019 would no longer qualify for protection under the clause. He said that the City “is not asking for anything different on jobs for life, just to keep with what was agreed to and what was ratified by the membership of CUPE 416 four years ago. “We have made it clear to the bargaining team that we will not be going backwards on jobs for life,” he said. The union has said that outside workers never agreed to phase out the clause which comes “no cost to the City”.
