About 250 Sarnia public works, parks and recreation, and administrative and technical staff have new three-year contracts, with 3.2 per cent annual wage increases.
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The contracts all are from Jan. 1, 2024 to Dec. 31, 2026.
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 153 represents 56 members in public works, CUPE 2713 has 57 parks and recreation members, including seasonal employees, and CUPE 3690, represents 131 administrative and technical staff members, said Sarnia human resources manager Tammy Broer.
CUPE 153 represents 56 members in public works, CUPE 2713 has 57 parks and recreation members, including seasonal employees, and CUPE 3690, represents 131 administrative and technical staff members, said Sarnia human resources manager Tammy Broer.
Talks that included local and national union reps and city managers at the table were respectful and productive, Broer said, noting all three contracts were negotiated separately, but are similar.
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“I really feel like we ended up with an agreement that is reasonable from a taxpayer’s perspective, but also really compensates the employees for the important work that they do,” she said.
The Ontario Consumer Price Index rose 3.9 per cent in 2023, a city news release says, noting the impact of inflation.
“It’s been a hard year for our employees, that’s no surprise to anyone with the changes in the community that we’re seeing,” Broer said.
“We really wanted to make sure that we treated (the workers) fairly at the table (and) I think we achieved that.”
The deals also maintain Sarnia’s competitive wage position against comparable Ontario municipalities, the city news release says.
CUPE 153 president Jeremy Hull, in a statement, called the agreement fair and equitable.
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“Our members look forward to serving the citizens of Sarnia well into the future without interruption or delay,” he said.
He and CUPE 3690 president Mike Jackson also thanked city officials and council.
“This agreement represents not just a set of terms and conditions, but a reflection of our shared commitment to fairness, respect and mutual support,” Jackson said in a statement.
Jorge Paiva, president with CUPE 2713, also thanked both sides for their efforts and, in a statement, called the agreement fair.
Negotiations, after starting last October, were slowed mainly because of contract wording changes, since all three were originally saying similar things in different ways, Broer said.
“(The process) just moved language from one spot to another and made the language consistent among the three,” she said. “But that took longer than we anticipated.”
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Added Jackson, “it was a bit of a longer process than obviously we would have liked; but at the end of the day, I was really happy with what we achieved.”
Scheduling also contributed to delays, Broer said, noting the sides spent 43 days together working on the three contracts.
The city and firefighters inked a four-year deal in February.
And city police, whose contract was extended for another year in March, amid prolonged negotiations with the Sarnia Police Service Board, are heading to mediation, said Sarnia Police Association president Miro Soucek.
“Unfortunately there are still some unresolved issues where both parties could not come to an amicable solution,” he said in a text.
“Although we are going to begin the mediation process, we are still having respectful discussions in hopes to settle an agreement without going to arbitration.”
No mediation dates have been set, he said.
Police negotiations have been underway since May 2023.
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