By Mark Squibb/August 12, 2022
With the ongoing CUPE Local 2099 strike now in it’s fifth week, neither the City nor the union seem willing to budge on their respective positions.
Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley brought forward an update on the negotiations during this week’s council meeting, which was held remotely and not at City Hall due to the strike.
“As a committee we acknowledge and understand the impact this labor disruption is having an effect on us all,” said Kieley, a member of the Corporate Services and Public Works committee. “We see that the fields of our community are empty, our facilities are closed, and programming is suspended, and we are being asked by many of you to get back to the table and get a deal. And let me be very clear and say, that is what we want as well.”
She said Mount Pearl employees receive competitive wages, a defined benefit pension plan, severance entitlement after 10 years of service, health and dental benefits, and a “more than reasonable sick leave allocation.”
“The City of Mount Pearl will always be a great place to work for both existing and new employees,” said Kieley. “As a steward of taxpayers dollars, it’s our job to ensure that our ongoing operations remain sustainable, and can be delivered within our existing budgets, and we do believe this can be achieved.”
Councillor Jim Locke then gave a financial update, referring back to the City’s 2021 audited financial statements, which painted a bleak picture of the City’s financial position in light of picketer’s demands.
“Last year, the City experienced a decrease in revenue coupled with an increase in expenses, and this is important for council to consider as we are now moving into the fifth week of the current labor disruption,” said Locke. “The decisions that we make now are going to have a lasting effect on the cost of operations for the short, the medium, and the long term for the City. And when this council brought forward the 2022 budget, we were open, and we were transparent about the budget pressures that the City is experiencing. With no anticipated increases in revenue for 2022, our mandate at the time, when we brought down the budget, was to maintain the current level of expenditure, while at the same time, striving to meet the changing needs of our community. And that objective remains intact as we negotiate out new collective agreement.”
Locke then pulled some detailed numbers out of the financial statement.
“The City’s revenue is not growing, and while we maintain a strong tax base, our taxation revenue has decreased year over year,” he noted. “Tax revenue is down over $2 million dollars in just a couple of years. Tax revenue hit a peak of $46.9 million in 2020. This decreased to $44.5 million in 2021, and is projected to be $44.1 million in 2022.”
Locke echoed Kieley’s comments on Mount Pearl’s competitive wages and benefits.
“But that high level of service comes at a cost,” said Locke. “Payroll expenditures remain the City’s largest expense, representing over $19.3 million dollars in 2021, which is just over 36 percent of the city’s overall budget. The cost of payroll related expenses had increased over $2 million dollars since 2018, and just over $ 6 million dollars in the last eight years since 2014. So, based on the reality of our reduced revenue and our rising cost of service delivery and payroll related expenditures, we must reach a collective agreement that can be delivered within our existing budget.”
Like Kieley, Locke acknowledged the strike is having a major impact on residents, and said he hoped an agreement can be reached soon.
Striking union members are picketing against a proposition by the City that new hires receive 12 paid sick days per year instead of the 21 sick days existing employees receive (which they say creates a two-tiered system), and a reduction in paid sick days from 21 to 18 for existing employees. The union also snubbed the City’s offer of a five percent pay increase over four years.
