Striking CUPE 1656 members rally calling on the region to come back to the negotiating table

A loud rally was held in front of the Region of Waterloo Administration building Tuesday afternoon with members of CUPE 1656 calling on the region to get back to the bargaining table.

Members of the union representing outside workers in the Region of Waterloo are on strike until a deal can be reached.

A deal was presented a few weeks ago from the region but it was taken off the table before it came to fruition.

The President of CUPE 1656, Phil Dominas, said the region’s staff claimed in an email the deal was no longer an option due to a mathematical error.

“Whether it was actually a lie or whether there was truth to it, we don’t know, but at the end of the day to be so close and have it pulled out from under our feet, in our eyes, it’s unfortunate because we really wanted to be working today,” said Dominas.

“We don’t want to be on strike, here we are making our presence known.”

CUPE 1656 represents workers for things like airport emergency services, landfill services, emergency vehicle maintenance, regional road maintenance and other needed trades to keep things running like normal.

“This is our way to show them that we need to get back to the table,” added Dominas.

No dates to get both sides back to the table have been set. Dominas mentioned they would go into negotiations as soon as possible as long as the region is willing to give them something to work with or go back to their previous commitment.

Mike Hepditch, chief steward CUPE 1656 and a local airport operations specialist for Region of Waterloo International Airport has been at the picket lines for the past week. He’s described the region’s decision not to come back to the table an “injustice to the members.”

“We went to the bargaining table several weeks ago, management offered us a deal – within a couple hours they sent us an email, not even a phone call, just a disrespectful email saying hey we can’t do that offer, came back with an offer that was less then half,” said Hepditch.

Some services the workers provide could be delayed until a deal is reached. Hepditch mentioned untrained and under appreciated managers are having to fill their roles in the meantime.

“The members are disappointed that we can’t get a deal, that council doesn’t want to come back to the table to talk to us. We’ve reached out to them, there’s no answer from them. We want to come back, we want to come back to work.”

The region, in a release Feb. 28, said they are in negotiations with CUPE Local 1656 and that negotiations continued over the weekend.

“In the event of a strike, The Region of Waterloo Waste Management centres in Cambridge and Waterloo will be closed to residential and commercial customers. 

The Region of Waterloo will ensure that all mandated, and regulated services continue to operate safely and effectively should a strike occur. 

Services, including curbside garbage collection, road maintenance and water services, will all continue. Operations and flights at the Region of Waterloo International Airport (YKF) will continue. As always, travelers are reminded to check the status of their flight with their airline.”