Thousands of Calgary workers voted in favor of the strike

Thousands of Calgary workers have voted in favor of a strike demanding higher wages and flexibility to work from home.

CUPE Local 38, which represents about 5,000 tech and administrative workers, has been negotiating with the city since last November, resulting in three rejections.

Union president D'Arcy Lanovaz says there are two big concerns on the table – wages and work-from-home policies. The union is calling for a 10.5 percent pay increase over three years in addition to the flexibility to work from home.

“The city is healthy, economically the outlook is very rosy,” he says. “There's no reason why we can't be an employer of choice.”

The city has proposed an 8 percent increase over three years, but Lanovaz says they want to “retain and hire new talent,” so they should at least put inflation on the table.

“They're all great employees,” says Ward 7. Terry Wong. “People are worried about the rising cost of inflation and how their incomes will balance out.”

“But we're concerned about who's going to pay the bills, and we're counting on mediation to give the administration the right response to get the balance right.”

Nearly 90 percent of members voted in favor of the strike, but Lanovaz says they have not yet gone on pickets. The union says they will start with a work-to-power campaign before the actual strike.

“This type of campaign has our members refusing any volunteer work, any overtime, any additional duties and doing it strictly according to their job description,” he says.

“Tell employers, and maybe Calgarians, 'there's a lot of work to do to make this city work.'”

The union believes any job action will affect the city more than Calgarians. He had to give 72 hours notice before the strike.

With files from Margot Rubin