On February 15, each CECU member Union delivered notice to the City Manager that we are no longer signatories to this important document which has guided labour relations between the Unions and City Administration for more than 20 years.
The Working Relationship Agreement (WRA) was signed in 1998 by leaders of five Civic Unions as well as senior Administrators as a commitment to a new way of conducting labour/management relations. This agreement was drafted by representatives from the Unions and management and represented a desire to move away from the extremely confrontational relationship that existed, to a more collaborative and interest-based method of problem solving.
The direct result of this agreement was a significant reduction in the number of grievances in the following year and a period of labour peace followed.
CECU has been voicing concern over the state of the relationship for the last few years, but each of our Unions have now concluded that ongoing support for the WRA is impossible based on the current approach of City Administration.
