Durham’s inside workers ratify collective agreement

Durham Region’s inside workers could be back at work as early as Friday after ratifying a new collective agreement.

Details of the deal have not yet been released, and it’s not yet known how many of the 1,600 Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1764 workers voted in favour.

Workers covered by the agreement include child care workers, court services, and public health inspectors.

The agreement will now go the regional council for a vote on Thursday.

“We are pleased that our members could be back to work soon. These employees deliver a variety of programs and services, some of which impact the most vulnerable people in our community,” said Matthew Gaskell, commissioner of corporate services said in a statement.

If the deal is approved at council on Friday, most programs and services will resume normal operations; however, the six child-care centres would open on Monday.

The inside workers walked off the job on June 19, citing Durham’s demands for concessions over the sick leave benefit of emergency medical services (EMS) workers.

The union said management refused to pay for the first three days of paramedics’ sick leave.

Meanwhile, those paramedics are required to keep working during job actions because they’ve been deemed an essential service.

Check the Durham Region website for updates.

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