140 City of Saint John workers begin strike after talks halt over pay | CBC News

About 140 city workers in Saint John went on strike Tuesday after giving the city a final warning and not hearing back about a better wage offer.

CUPE Local 486 represents clerical, administrative and support staff.

The biggest impact of the strike could be in non-essential police services such as fingerprinting and non-provincial victim services, as well as licensing, bylaw enforcement and customer service.

The main sticking point is pay, with the union saying the city’s offer doesn’t acknowledge the rising cost-of-living challenges faced by workers.

Union president Brittany Doyle said the city is not following its own policy of basing increases on a three-year rolling average of tax-base growth.

“The goal here is to have sustainable wage increases, and that’s what this plan predicts,” Doyle told Information Morning Saint John.

Mayor Donna Reardon defended the wage offer, which was not made public, and said the city is following its new financial policy to cap wages within its means.

Wages rose 16 per cent from the beginning of a contract signed in 2015 and the end of the most recent contract, but tax-base growth was about half that. 

“We believe we have an excellent, fair offer on the table, but we need to be responsible to the citizens of Saint John,” Reardon told Information Morning Saint John.

Doyle said members on strike include operators in the 911 centre. Reardon said the city is training people to be 911 dispatchers during the strike. Other workers include recreation, customer service, people in tech roles, admin support, permitting, bylaw enforcement and financial services.

The two sides have been deadlocked since mid-August.

Most of the striking workers are on a compressed work week, so they work the same number of hours but over four days instead of five.