City of Calgary 'inside workers' vote in favour of strike

Calgary's municipal building is seen in this undated image. (Jordan Kanygin/CTV News)

Wages and working from home are key outstanding issues as the City of Calgary and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 38 try to reach an agreement.

Thousands of CUPE Local 38 members took part in a strike vote on May 15 and 16.

The union represents inside workers, encompassing administrative, technical and professional employees of the City of Calgary.

During the two days, 4,200 members out of 5,600 voted, and out of that, 3,700 voted yes and 450 voted no.

The union’s website explains the parties started the process of achieving a new collective agreement in the fall of 2023 and engaged a third-party mediator when they reached an impasse in March 2024.

The union was seeking improvements to the work-from-home agreement and a three-year settlement for wage increases:

• 2024 – 4.0 per cent
• 2025 – 3.5 per cent
• 2026 – 3.0 per cent

“This proposal is in line with current and future inflation estimates and improvements to shift differential and standby pay would bring Local 38 in line with what other city unions currently receive,” states the union’s website.

“We believe our proposal strikes a balance between responding to current inflationary pressures and being fair to taxpayers, of which all members of Local 38 are.”

However, the union says the city remained firm on its offer:

• 2024 – 3.0 per cent
• 2025 – 3.0 per cent
• 2026 – 2.0 per cent

"We are disappointed with the outcome of the strike vote but discussions are continuing,” the City of Calgary said in a statement to CTV News.

“We remain hopeful that we can achieve a fair and reasonable collective agreement in future bargaining sessions."