With just hours until a strike deadline, the City of London's inside workers remain without a contract.
The city's 750 inside workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, will be in a legal strike position at midnight.
On the last day of negotiations, the union representing the City of London's inside workers says the city is "wasting precious time and increasing the likelihood of a service shutdown," by not having key leaders at the table.
Shelley Navarroli, president of CUPE 101 said in a statement, “The union’s decision makers are all here at the bargaining table but we’ve been told that the City’s representative ‘has to seek instructions’ before moving forward on our proposals. At this critical juncture it is important for the real decision makers to be here talking with us to avert a service shutdown.”
The union is calling the situation disrespectful, but say they are still hoping to reach an agreement and avoid a strike.
London Mayor Matt Brown says the negotiators are there and city is just as interested in reaching an agreement as the city.
"They have the same ability to negotiate as the people on the other side of the table negotiating for the union...The deadline that's been set was set by the union, if they were to go out on strike it would be unfortunate. I think parties need to stay at the table and negotiate a fair deal."
Inside workers provide a wide range of services including building and property inspections, by-law enforcement, tourism, traffic management, roads construction management, recreation programs registration, social services and more.
