CUPE members vote to accept deal with City of Winnipeg

The union that represents thousands of workers at the City of Winnipeg says they have officially agreed to a deal with the municipal government, after narrowly avoiding a strike earlier this month.

About 75 per cent of Canadian Union of Public EmployeesLocal 500 membersvoted in favour of a tentative agreement with their employer, president Gord Delbridgetold reporters at a news conference Tuesday evening.

The CUPE workers will get a wage increase of 10.2 per cent increase over four years, but Delbridge says the city should have offered up more.

"I think that the workers deserve better than that, without a doubt. We're looking at the rate of inflation well beyond that, so there's no question that our members are still taking a reduction in their standard of living," he said.

The new agreement provides a signing bonus, increases to shift premiums and a tool and boot allowance.

The agreement also includes employment security, as well as $1.4 million in special wage adjustments for selected job classifications.

David Driedger, the manager of corporate communications with the City of Winnipeg, said in anemailTuesday night thatan administrative report outlining the details of the agreement will be put together in the coming days.

It will then be considered at a meeting of city council'sexecutive policy committee in December, after which it will go to full council for a vote.

Agreement 4 hours before deadline

The union announced a tentative agreement had been reached around 8 p.m. on Oct. 11 justfour hours before its strike deadline.

The union had previously said if there wasnodeal by midnight that night, its roughly 5,000 members who work for the city would hit the picket lines.

Although Delbridge is relieved the union members now have a deal to replace the one that expired in 2021, he says more needs to be done to make the city a competitive place to work.

"In order to do so, they're going to have to come to the table and pay people," he said.