26,000 City of Toronto workers move closer to strike or lockout

The City of Toronto's unionized workers moved a step closer to the picket lines on Friday.

Requests have gone to the province'sMinistry of Labourfor what's called a "no-board" report in negotiations with both CUPElocals representing 20,000 inside employeesand 6,000 outside workers.

Seventeen days after the ministry issues a "no-board" report,the two sides will bein a legal strike or lockout position. Deputy MayorDenzilMinnan-Wong,whochairsthe city's employee and labour relations committee,said he expects that will beFeb. 20.

• City's outside workers give union strike mandate
• City workers take strike vote

"We're not satisfied with the progress that's beentaking place to date," Minnan-Wong tolda news conference at City Hall."With this step we aresignalingthe need for bothpartiestorolluptheir sleeves and get totoworkto find a deal."

"The city has shown no commitment to bargaining," said Matt Alloway, bargaining committee representative for CUPELocal 416, representing the outside workers.

Alloway told reporters at City Hall that only 15 hours of face-to-face talks had taken place."It's hard to reach a deal when you're not in the room," he said.

Alloway said the city is seeking "cuts" in the contract talks, but refused to say anything more specific. Nor would Tim Maguire, president of CUPE Local 79, representing the inside workers.

"We've been negotiatingsince October and the same deep cuts remain on the table, quite frankly deeper cuts than were on the table in the last round of negotiations," Maguire told reporters.

Maguire said hismembers want more job stability. The union has said part-time city workers suffer from a lack of reliable hours, little notice in shift scheduling, and little to no benefits.

The city made the first moveon Friday, announcing at 1 p.m. that it hadaskedthe ministry for a no-board report in its talks withCUPELocal 416.Within an hour, the inside workers'CUPELocal 79announced it had asked for a no-board report in its talks.

The province has not yet responded to the requests for no-board reports and there is no deadline for that to happen. But typically such reports are issued within days if contract talks are at an impasse, starting the 17-day countdown toward the strike and lockout deadline.

The city asked the province to appoint a conciliatorin December for the talks with the outside workers, but says there has been little progress at the bargaining table. The union announced on Jan. 13 its members had voted strongly in favour of a strike.

The inside workers asked for a conciliator earlier in January.