The Town continues to be committed to achieving a fair and reasonable agreement that balances the needs of our workforce and Whitby residents. However, after numerous days of bargaining, the Town and CUPE Local 53 Full-time (the union representing the Town’s inside and outside workers) are in a legal strike position as of 12:01 a.m. this Saturday, October 14, 2023.

Negotiations continued Wednesday and Thursday, and the Town has made numerous modifications to its proposal to address CUPE’s concerns and ensure there is minimal impact to current employees, while providing needed flexibility to respond to changing community needs in the future.

The Town’s current proposal includes significant benefit improvements and a 9.5 per cent wage increase over the next three years, in line with or better than the average negotiated increase in other recent CUPE agreements.

The Town continues to be available to meet with CUPE and have meaningful discussions regarding:

• the existing limitations regarding temporary positions and employees
• changes to non-standard hours of work for a limited number of existing staff, and
• implementing improved flexibility in the scheduling of new hires or staff who move to a new role (with consultation and notice) to modernize and better support the Town’s program and service delivery.

In the event of a labour disruption, the delivery of Whitby’s public services and programs will face interruption. In anticipation of a possible disruption, the Town has started contingency planning to limit service disruptions as best it can. Critical services will continue in a modified way. Non-critical services, like recreation programs and special events, will be impacted.

Examples of Town Services that the Town expects to be impacted include:

• Animal Services
• Building Permits
• Business Licensing
• By-Law Enforcement
• Council and Committee Meetings
• Garbage Collection (curbside blue box collection provided by the Region of Durham will continue)
• Marriage License and Civil Marriage Ceremonies
• Parking Enforcement and Services
• Parks and Recreation Programming
• Road, Sidewalk and Traffic Operations
• Special Events

In the event of a labour disruption, all Town facilities – including recreation centres – will close to the public, meaning closures could begin as early as this Saturday. Updates will be shared through the Town’s social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and a dedicated webpage at whitby.ca/2023labourdisruption. Residents have the option of subscribing to receive emailed updates directly to their inbox at whitby.ca/subscribe.

Quick Facts

• Labour negotiations have been ongoing between the Town of Whitby and CUPE Local 53 Full-time since March 2023.
• After fifteen (15) days of collective bargaining, including five (5) days with a provincially appointed Conciliation Officer, the parties are in a legal strike or lockout position as of 12:01 am on October 14, 2023.
• Approximately 300 full-time staff are represented by CUPE Local 53 Full-time.

More Information

For more information, visit whitby.ca/2023labourdisruption.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Corporate Communications

Erin Mikaluk, Manager, Communications and Creative Services, Town of Whitby
Phone: 289.314.6913
Email: mikaluke@whitby.ca