The City of Edmonton will begin the process of implementing the agreement between the City and the Civic Service Union (CSU) 52.
Wednesday, Edmonton city council voted to ratify the terms of the agreement, which was the final step of the bargaining process between both sides.
“I am pleased that Edmontonians will continue to receive high-quality services without interruption, and thousands of staff can expect stability,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.
“This agreement balances the needs of staff and Edmontonians, and I would like to thank the negotiating teams from the City and CSU 52 for this deal.”
Edmonton’s mayor acknowledging it has not been an easy journey getting to this point, Sohi told council Wednesday “It has been difficult on both sides. We have work ahead of us to repair some of the hurt that both sides have felt in this.”
Sohi committed on behalf of council to put in the work to repair relationships, telling city staff and administration, “I really want you to know we deeply value the work you have put in over the last decades running this city and building this city. We just need to figure out how we continue to do that in an amicable and collaborative way.”
Members of the union voted 83.5 per cent in favour of the deal on March 25.
“We are pleased to have finalized an agreement that supports our valued employees and is fiscally fair and balanced,” said Acting Chief People Officer, Cyndil Taylor.
“The thousands of CSU 52 employees who are included in this agreement provide many programs and services that the public relies on every day, and this agreement ensures that they can continue delivering excellent service to the community.”
Terms of the agreement have been released now that both sides have fully agreed to the deal.
Aspects of the deal include:
- A four-year general wage adjustment
- 0 per cent for 2021
- 1.25 per cent for 2022
- 2 per cent for 2023
- 3 per cent for 2024
- Current CSU 52 members will receive a one-time lump sum payment of $1,000.
- A 25 earned days off (EDO) option will be added to the Amended Hours of Work and Compressed Hours of Work Options (36.9) Letter of Understanding.
- Language acknowledging the ability for employees to request a leave of absence without pay for observing religious, cultural, or ethnic observances, holidays, or celebrations not already specified in the collective agreement will be added.
- Addition of three days of paid bereavement leave for provisional staff.
- A hybrid work commitment that includes moving the LOU into the collective agreement and removing the expiry date.
-With files from Carly Robinson