Talks break off between Exhibition Place, locked out stagehands

The union that represents stagehands locked out of Exhibition Place says talks with the venue's board of governors have broken off.

JustinAntheunis, the president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 58,said the city walked away from the bargaining table on Friday after 12 hours of talks with city lawyers and labour relations personnel.

Antheunissaid that talks scheduled for Sunday are now in "serious jeopardy."

The union says itsmain issueis the board wantingto be able to contract outIATSEwork at Exhibition Place. In a statement Saturday morning, the unionsaidthecity walked away from the tablestating they had a clear mandate not to consider concessions on contracting out IATSEjobs.

"I'm disappointed," said Antheunis. He said he believes the Exhibition Place board is not interested in reaching a deal.

"I expected more from the city, after they had a special council meeting and they debated behind closed doors for overthree hours as to where to go forward with this. Obviously, the board of governors doesn't feel they needto follow the lead of the mayor."

The chair of the Exhibition Place board of governors,Coun.Mark Grimes, said he was disappointedthey could not achieve a resolution on Friday.Hesaidthat any deal must ensurethe venue stays competitive andthe board will not accept a deal that isn't in the best interest of Exhibition Place.

"We wanted nothing more than to resolve this matter," said Grimes in an emailed statement."However, we have been consistent through this process that any deal must ensure the competitiveness of Exhibition Place in what is a highly competitive market."

Grimes said the board has advised the union, through the mediator, that itwill continue trying to find a solution to the dispute.

"We have invited the union to provide a fulsome response to the comprehensive set of proposals tabled by the board yesterday," he said.

Mayor says he wants to see parties back at the table

The Exhibition Place board reports to Toronto city council, and is made up of a designate for the mayor, four
council members and four public appointees, according to itswebsite.

On Saturday, Mayor JohnTory said he wants to see the partiestrying to reach an agreement that's fair for both the workers and Exhibition Place.

Tory said he understands Exhibition Place invited the union back to the bargaining table on Sunday, and he hopes both sides resume talks.

At thespecial meeting about the negotiations on Tuesday, city council passed a motion confirmingconfidential instructions sent to city staff. After Tuesday'smeeting,Tory saidtheinstructions were "meant to move us in the direction I think we should all be moving, which is to get people back at the negotiating table...and to also use the means that are described in the instructions to staff as an opportunity to bring the lockout to an end."

Antheunissaid the Exhibition Place board is "paying lip service to city council". He said it wasclear the city doesnot want to budge from its position.

"The city was not willing to move on any of theircontracting-out languageand, in fact, doubled down on some of them even harder," he said.

A city staff person is expected to contactAntheunison Saturday if the board decides it is willing to change its position.

"We told them that they need to be able to move on that contracting-out language tomorrow," Antheunissaid.

When asked about contracting out on Saturday, Mayor Tory said it's not up to him to suggest a solution.

No talks were scheduled for Saturday because themediator was not available.

Picketing continues at CNE

Grimes said the union is having a "emotional response."

"What we have heard from the union, today, is an emotional response to a lack of a resolution of this matter. That's understandable," Grimes said in hisstatement. "However, we aren't going to allow emotion to cloud ourjudgementand accept a deal that is not in the best interest of Exhibition Place."

Picketing outside the annual Canadian National Exhibition resumed on Saturday morning.

About 400 stagehands and technical workers employed by Exhibition Place where the CNE is a tenant have been locked out since July 20. The workers have been without a contract since December.

The negotiations had resumed just days after the head of theCNEsent a letter to Toronto's mayor and citycouncillorssaying the labour dispute could cost the annual fair more than $1.5 million.