Striking P.A. city workers file unfair labour practice complaint

By Susan McNeil

Not only is there no deal between the City of Prince Albert and CUPE 882, that represents its inside workers, the situation has escalated.

Late on Tuesday afternoon, the union said it had filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the province after finding out on Friday that four clerk-stenos would be moved to a call centre.

“There would be three departments that don’t have their clerk-stenos anymore, which is also clerical support for the secretaries who are in those departments,” said Cara Stelmaschuk, vice president of CUPE Local 882.

“To say they’re just taking a few people and moving their desks is completely inaccurate. They are changing the structure of how the work flows for those three departments who are not all the same. They are not interchangeable.”

The knowledge the affected staff have is very specific to their department, she added.

Stemaschuk said staff were also not consulted on the changes.

The city put in the call centre as a response when strike action began three weeks ago but now wants to keep it.

Kiley Bear, speaking on behalf of the city, said the changes will be minimal, with no positions or pay being cut.

For the public, they will still call the same phone numbers as before and will be directed to the same staff as before.

When the union does return to work, one of the next tasks will be to repair a relationship that has been damaged and to mend hard feelings.

“It’s been a very difficult time and I acknowledge that this is hard for them as it is for management who is trying to work through this, day by day,” said Bear.

The damage is also being acknowledged by the union, in what is the city’s first-ever strike.

“We were hopeful that the tentative agreement would be a step towards rebuilding workplace harmony and trust. To find out the employer was going to notify employees about restructuring as we walked into the building is concerning,” said Stelmaschuk.

In addition to its labour complaint, the union is asking for a list of employees who might be impacted by the continued use of the call centre and how their work will be impacted.

They also want to know if any jobs or classifications will be changed by the call centre if job descriptions will change and how day-to-day tasks will change.

They are asking for the information by Oct. 5.