Some bad news on the local labour scene as negotiations between the Children's Aid Society and its locked-out workers have broken down again.
"By allowing the latest and best chance of a deal with workers to slip through their fingers, negotiators for Nipissing and Parry Sound children’s aid society are increasing the likelihood of a tragedy among vulnerable children and youth," said CUPE Social Services coordinator Bev Patchell.
The lockout has put 140 employees on the picket line.
Patchell, who led the union in bargaining, said talks broke down around 11 p.m. last night.
The union had asked the mediator to return to the bargaining table in a bid to end the lockout that began almost 11 weeks ago.
"Despite the union’s best efforts to reach a deal, the society’s rigid approach to negotiations means that the lockout that it initiated in December will continue," said Patchell in a news release.
“The union brought forward two different alternatives, hoping to resolve the labour dispute, but the society’s uncompromising stance in bargaining remained the same. At this point, its inflexibility is quite literally endangering the lives of children and youth in the north,” she added.
“A wide variety of sources in the community tells us that child protection services in Nipissing and Parry Sound are in a woeful state. The employer’s negotiators must know this too; yet they remain unmoved in their position.”
“My colleagues and I are disappointed for ourselves and afraid for the families we serve,"said Debbie Hill, president of CUPE 2049. "We came back to bargaining with high hopes, because we believed there was an excellent chance of a breakthrough,” .
Hill pointed out that Nipissing and Parry Sound CAS could have ended the lockout “if its directors were the least bit interested in negotiating with us. But time after time, they have shown their preference is to make demands and ultimatums.”
The union says it is now considering other strategies to bring an end to the lockout.
“We won’t be quiet about it anymore,” said Hill.
