Confusion reigns as still no end in sight to city strike

Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press

A Toronto city manager accepts residential garbage yesterday at the Birchmount Park temporary dump site in Scarborough. The temporary dump sites will remain in use until contracts are ratified and the civic workers go back to work.

More about Toronto City Strike

Getting closer

‘Where were they?’

Some frustrated with back-to-work timeline

Give-and-take ends city strike

Published: July 30, 2009 5:10 a.m.

Last modified: July 30, 2009 1:37 a.m.

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A cancelled ratification vote. A defensive mayor. Frustrated residents. And garbage dumps growing ever higher.

The chaos of the past 24 hours has left Torontonians with few answers as to when the city’s workers will be back on the job. And today there appears to be no end to the confusion.

With the city’s controversial sick-bank program still included in the tentative agreement reached early Monday, Mayor David Miller now faces the prospect that his own council may vote “no” to the pact tomorrow.

Members of CUPE Local 79, representing 24,000 inside workers, voted to accept the agreement last night, but without final approval from city council, workers have little idea when they will be back at work.

On top of that, CUPE local 416, representing 6,000 outside workers including trash collectors, postponed its vote to ratify the deal because negotiators hadn’t signed a memorandum of agreement to end the strike, or negotiated details surrounding post-strike cleanup.

It’s a series of unfortunate circumstances that has angered and bewildered residents.

“We had intended today to announce details of the full resumption of city services,” Mayor David Miller said yesterday where, for the first time, details on the tentative agreement were made available. “Unfortunately, there remains some important things to be worked out with Local 416. Much to my disappointment they have not yet indicated when their ratification vote might occur.”

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