CTV Toronto has learned the city hs declared six of its temporary dump sites to be potential public health hazards.

However, there is no sign yet of a wider public health problem being declared. CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss said Thursday that's because any problems with insects or vermin are being contained within the problem dump sites.

One of the six dumps is the hockey rink at Christie Pits, which the city closed last Sunday, saying it was at capacity. Bliss said the city has put foam insulation around the base of the rink to control any liquid from the dump.

Nearby sewers have also been covered, he said.

One striker told CTV Toronto on Thursday that she hopes Premier Dalton McGuinty will legislate an end to the dispute the way the province did during the 2002 strike.

However, McGuinty has repeatedly said he won't order an end to the civic strikes in either Windsor or Toronto unless the public's health is compromised.

Bliss said health officials will be looking to see if any problems at the dump sites are starting to spread into the wider community.

Summer-long strike?

Meanwhile, the leader of   6,200 striking outside workers said a summer-long strike by city workers is a "distinct possibility."

"We were hopeful prior to the strike that a settlement was within reach, but unfortunately that did not happen," Mark Ferguson, president of CUPE Local 416, told CTV Toronto on Thursday.

"We remained hopeful that a settlement was within reach shortly after taking the strike, but here after Day 18, that settlement does not appear to be within sight."

The strike by Local 416 and 18,000 inside workers represented by Local 79 began on June 22. The contract expired on Dec. 31.

Miller told reporters following a meeting of city council's labour relations committee that while city negotiators would be given more flexibility, he suggested the unions needed to change their attitudes.

"The goals remain the same as when the strike started," Miller said. "The union as you know from their public statements is looking to settlements of the past. It's not the past. The world changed with the financial crisis, and it hit the city like everybody else."

The two unions are engaged in separate negotiations with the city at different sites, but are co-ordinating their actions.

Wages, seniority and the controversial clause that allows union members to cash in up to six month's of unused sick days at retirement are some of the main sticking points.

Ferguson said his union appreciated the city directing its negotiators to be more flexible and claimed they have "met the city in the middle" many times since January, but remained adamant his union would not give in on the sick days issue.

"We have no interest in a race to the bottom," he said. "Our members have been made a promise over the course of their careers to have saved and banked their sick times on goodwill and the expectation that there would be a small severance benefit for them when they retire.

"We are not prepared to let the city strip away this collective agreement entitlement," Ferguson said. "These are not people of means that have stock options and preferred shares. They have a small nest egg that they can count on -- if in fact they are healthy enough to have banked any time at all."

On Wednesday, Local 79 president Ann Dembinski told reporters that the city and her union remain "miles apart."

Coun. Case Ootes said Wednesday he believes the strike could go for a long time.

Meanwhile, the workers missed their first paycheque on Thursday.

With reports from CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss and Austin Delaney