Bruce Anderson, the head of the cities bargaining team, is shown on July 27, 2009,
As a possible lockout looms within 10 days, the city and its second largest union remain at odds over at least 20 key issues.
Over the last seven days, the two sides have met five times at the Sheraton Centre with nothing to show for it, according to Bruce Anderson, the city's director of human resources.
"Not a substantive item has been settled yet," said Mr. Anderson in an interview on Thursday, just hours after CUPE Local 416 cancelled a press conference due to a media blackout. "We are waiting for some meaningful response from the union, and we have not had that."
The clock is ticking. As of Feb. 5, the city can legally lock out CUPE Local 416, representing more than 6,000 garbage collectors, paramedics and other outside workers. While the union could initiate a strike on that same day, its leader has vowed against the kind of job action that poisoned public regard for city workers during the 2009 strike.
"In this round, we've committed not to strike as long as the current contract remains in place," said Local 416 president Mark Ferguson.
Mr. Anderson, who has kept a low profile in the media since negotiations began late last year, outlined a number of issues on which he says the union won't budge:
*Running lunches, which allow workers who eat on the job to go home early
*Rigid shift rules that prevent the city from making any changes to workers' shifts without union consent
*Tool allowances that pay some workers $750 a year for tools even if they don't produce receipts
*Bumping provisions that place discretion over a displaced worker's next job in the hands of the employee rather than the city.
*A redeployment clause that guarantees another job for any permanent worker displaced by contracting out.
"We're just trying to ease them back," Mr. Anderson said. "We'd still be the leading employer compared to any other private or public-sector employer. We're just trying to bring it back to something more reasonable."
Hearing of Mr. Anderson's decision to speak despite the agreed-upon media blackout, Mr. Ferguson picked apart the city's claims one by one. "I would suggest Bruce [Anderson]isn't being truthful," he said.
Local 416 has offered to eliminate tool allowances, he said, and running lunches have saved the city millions. As for redeployment and bumping, Mr. Ferguson said the city has been reluctant to talk.
"They want their way on every proposal," he said. "We're in a countdown period right now unnecessarily. All the city's actions at the table up until now have pointed to wanting labour action."
Patrick White