Union leader cribs from Toronto mayoralty campaign

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Two years ago, during Toronto's summer of stench, much of the city's anger seemed to rain down on one man: Mark Ferguson, president of Toronto Civic Employees Union Local 416.

The sentiment seemed mutual. Through all 39 days of the 2009 garbage strike, the head of the union representing Toronto's trash collectors gave nearly as good as he got, labelling George Smitherman and others who participated in community clean-ups as "scabs." His mission was clear: bargain the best possible deal for his members, the rest of the city be damned.

But times change.

On Tuesday Mayor Rob Ford's plan for garbage privatization will go before the Public Works Committee. As Local 416 primes for a bigger clash with a less sympathetic mayor, its president is trying to make amends. His methods borrow from Mr. Ford's own mayoral campaign: he is reaching out to community groups, investing in telephone town-halls and trotting out labourers to explain what Toronto would lose with private contractors.

"Historically we spent far too much time talking to ourselves and not enough time getting out into communities and talking to the public," Mr. Ferguson said in an interview. "We have to be out there talking to the unconverted."

Toronto won't convert easily. The new mayor was elected on a wave of public anger stoked, in part, by the 2009 strike.

"Rob Ford was elected with a mandate to contain costs, so the unions are realizing it's not Rob Ford they're fighting, but the electorate behind him," said Anil Verma, professor of industrial relations at the Rotman School of Management. "In this bargaining dynamic, both sides have to listen to the voters and get a read on what the public supports. Public support has become the uninvited guest at the bargaining table."

As part of his new outreach efforts, Mr. Ferguson recently dropped by a Beaches Lions Club meeting to extol the virtues of Local 416. At first, it didn't go well. "There was a palpable anger in the air," said Mr. Ferguson. "We were viewed as greedy and self-serving. But after listening to us, there was a real difference by the end of the meeting. The group understood there was a greater story than what they'd ever heard in the press."

A tall, thin man with rimless glasses and a severe demeanour, Mr. Ferguson might not seem the best person to tell that story. He came into the union as a paramedic, not a garbage hauler. His intellect is obvious, but under questioning his answers carry an air of defensive tension. The very qualities that make him a beast at the negotiating table also make him a beast in the public eye. That could be why he's urging his members to spread the word along with him, to evangelize the cause everywhere they go.

"I'm doing everything I can to volunteer," said Brian Demareski, a 42-year-old city garbage-truck driver who, like many of his co-workers, is spending his downtime speaking before churches, legions, old-age homes and any other groups that might help turn the tide of public opinion. "After the strike, it's been a real effort to get out there and let people know we're not just garbage-men; we're people too. I'm a family man. I have bills to pay. I live in the city. I get paid in the city. I spend in the city. And I don't cost any more than the private guys. I call that a good deal for Toronto."

The public relations push has taken on the look of an full-on election campaign. Local 416 recently set up a 20-line phone bank in the boardroom of the union's Leaside office. Member-volunteers work there day and evening to get the union's message out.

Loval 416 has also launched Twitter and Facebook pages where it reminds people the TCEU is "In your neighbourhood. At your service."

They're also investing in telephone town-halls, the automated phone systems popularized during Rob Ford's election run.

"We're stealing a page directly from the mayor's playbook," said Mr. Ferguson. "It unorthodox for a union, but over the long run we believe it will be quite helpful."