After more than 100 days of tense strike action between the City of Charlottetown and CUPE Local 830 municipal water and wastewater workers, the parties have settled on a new collective agreement.
About 30 workers walked off the job on July 29 over issues including job security, seniority and wages, marking the first strike action in the union’s 60-year history.
The deal was reached on November 13.
“It should never have taken 107 days to reach an agreement,” the workers’ union posted on Facebook. “The strike was sparked by harmful concessions brought forward by the City, and we stood up for what was right, not just for workers, but for the residents of Charlottetown.”
Subscribe to our Newsletter!
The latest environmental engineering news direct to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time.
The contract for the water workers expired at the end of 2022.
According to Charlottetown officials, the municipal water and wastewater employees are now set for an 8% pay increase over four years. The new contract is also backdated to January 1, 2023.
In terms of changing what some workers say is a challenging certification timeline, local officials say they will be looking at giving workers more than double the time, which is currently a one-year process.
