CUPE Local 38 poised to enact work-to-rule as negotiations at impasse

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The president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 38 said the union is prepared to declare a work-to-rule campaign, as negotiations with the City of Calgary over a new collective agreement remain at an impasse.

A strike vote last month revealed that a majority of CUPE Local 38 members were in support of strike action. About 3,700 union members, or 89 per cent of the roughly 4,140 members who took part in the strike vote, were in favour of further labour action.

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CUPE Local 38 represents more than 5,000 of the city’s office workers and is the municipality’s largest public sector union.

D’Arcy Lanovaz, the union’s president, said negotiations with the city’s bargaining agent have broken down again since the strike vote, despite the recent readdition of a provincial third-party mediator.

“We got back to the table twice with the provincial mediator and the city but we’ve been unable to get to an agreement yet,” he said. “There’s still a sticking point on wages, work from home and a couple of smaller items.

“We haven’t walked away from the table, but we were quite disappointed the last time we met.”

The two organizations have been bargaining a new collective agreement since the old contract expired at the end of 2023. Despite third-party mediation, negotiations broke down in April, leading the union to apply to the Alberta Labour Relations Board to hold the strike vote.

‘We’re still far apart’: union president

CUPE Local 38 had proposed a 10.5 per cent raise for members over three years — 4.5 per cent this year, 3.5 per cent in 2025 and three per cent in 2026. The union also wanted assurances in the new agreement regarding flexible work-from-home policies.

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The city originally countered by offering an eight per cent raise over the same three-year period. Lanovaz said the city has since increased that offer to nine per cent over three years, but has still not budged on the union’s desired work-from-home language or other indemnification issues.

“We’re still far apart as the parties,” he said. “We left the last round of mediation and are now looking at next steps, which may very well include a work-to-rule campaign.”

Work-to-rule is a form of labour action that would instruct union members to follow their workplace rules and job description to a strict interpretation. That would mean taking full breaks and not working overtime.

“It typically slows the operation significantly in the organization,” Lanovaz said.

Work-to-rule would ‘show the value’ of union members, says president

If work-to-rule — which Lanovaz said had not been declared as of Wednesday afternoon — does not result in a “more substantive offer” from the city, he said CUPE Local 38 would consider implementing rotating strikes as a next step.

While not withholding labour outright, Lanovaz said a work-to-rule campaign would nonetheless have a significant impact on municipal operations and “show the value” of the union’s members.

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He pointed out that the recent three-week public hearing on blanket rezoning — which cost the city more than $1.2 million to promote and hold, largely due to staff overtime costs — would have likely lasted even longer if city employees refused to go above and beyond their job descriptions.

“They would have had to work within their regular hours of work,” he said. “Not these 12-hour days. That’s the challenge and the problem. The city relies on extra work, volunteer work, and people going over and above and well beyond their normal course of duties.

“We’re telling our members, ‘You’re not being appreciated for that, so don’t do it.’”

Union president says finding a resolution remains the goal

Though negotiations are still at an impasse, Lanovaz said CUPE Local 38’s primary goal is to find a resolution with the city. “We’re not trying to get to work-to-rule,” he said. “Nobody wants to do that. Those are mechanisms to ultimately get to an agreement with the employer.

“That’s the goal here. We hope the city comes back to the table with the willingness to bargain, not just take a hard stand.”

In a previous statement last month, the city said the municipality was disappointed by the outcome of CUPE Local 38’s strike vote, but “remain hopeful that we can achieve a fair and reasonable collective agreement in future bargaining sessions.”

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