Unionized municipal employees for the Town of Coaldale have been given a 72-hour lockout notice, amid a bargaining dispute.
A lockout is an employer’s equivalent of a workers’ strike. The legal work stoppage allows the employer to withhold work and pay from unionized employees during a labour dispute.
Under provincial law, a lockout can only be issued after a mandatory mediation and cooling-off period of 14 days has ended, and once 72-hour notice has been given.
The Town says the notice, issued on Wednesday, means the lockout will officially start at 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 6.
Officials say the decision was made after almost a year of bargaining with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, or AUPE, two days of formal mediation, multiple revised offers, and a Labour Board-supervised vote where unionized staff rejected the Town’s final offer. That included annual general wage hikes of 2.5 per cent, 2.75 per cent, 2.75 per cent, and three per cent, along with market adjustments to base pay – which together amounted to an average general wage increase of 17 per cent over four years.
Additionally, the offer included benefits and allowances. The full offer can be seen here.
“As a Council, our goal is to protect the interests of the taxpayers who fund municipal operations and to demonstrate that we can operate effectively and efficiently without agreeing to unsustainable and entitled demands,” says Coaldale Mayor, Jack Van Rijn.
“At the end of the day, our council is unwilling to pay unionized staff even more than what was already offered – which is already well above what the private sector currently pays for comparable labour. Unfortunately, AUPE called the Town’s final offer ‘insultingly bad,’ and continues to publish press releases rife with misinformation.”
“Serving lockout notice is not a decision we as a council take lightly, but it is a necessary step to protect the financial sustainability of our municipality and the taxpayers who fund it. After a year of negotiations with AUPE, it is time for us, as the leaders of this organization, to move forward,” Van Rijn adds.
Residents in Coaldale are being assured that despite the lockout, municipal services will continue to operate as normal, with contingency plans in place.
“For however long this goes on, your garbage will be picked up, your calls will be answered, the Arena and Rec Centre will remain open, and community events will proceed as planned,” Van Rijn states.
AUPE RESPONSE
The AUPE says unionized employees will hit the picket lines at 4 p.m. on Saturday, when the lockout takes effect.
“AUPE members working for the Town of Coaldale have put up with a lot during this round of bargaining,” says AUPE Vice-President Curtis Jackson.
“After months of poor treatment and ridiculous bargaining practices, it is unsurprising that their employer took this final step.”
Jackson adds that workers “remain willing to return to the bargaining table”.
“Town staff want a fair contract and they want to continue providing the services their neighbours depend on, but their employer has blocked both by locking them out.”
