Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday says the city will not lock out some 6,000 unionized outside workers over the weekend, when a negotiating deadline passes and a work stoppage becomes legal.
Ontario's Ministry of Labour has given negotiators until Feb. 5 before the city can legally lock out unionized workers or the union can legally go on strike.
"It's not an automatic lockout by us. We've never even talked about a lockout, it's always been the union that's talked about the lockout," he said.
Holyday, chair of the employee and labour relations committee, said on Tuesday that the city had no intention of locking CUPE Local 416 workers out, but hopes the impending deadline will lend urgency to negotiations.
Holyday likened the ongoing negotiations ahead of the deadline to a football game: "In the end, quite often, the game is decided in the last two minutes."
Cim Nunn, a spokesperson for CUPE, said in a statement that while Holyday has promised not to lock staff out, he has not promised productive negotiations.
When the deadline arrives on Sunday, the city can unilaterally change working conditions and job security clauses for unionized staff.
But CUPE says doing that would endanger the bargaining process and reduce the level and quality of services.
Mark Ferguson, head of the union, likened any potential unilateral changes as an "unnecessary provocation."
"There is no need to change the terms and the conditions of our collective agreement," he said.
"We're in lock-down at this point and we've made ourselves available to the city at a 24-7 basis and quite frankly, that's what it's going to take to get this done."
One key clause in question guarantees workers other positions with the city, even if their current jobs are contracted out.
According to Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti, if the union refuses to talk about the agreement and the thorny topic of job security, there could be conflict as the negotiations continue.
"If they say no, they don't want to talk about that, then I think next week's a different week, and we'll see what happens. It's one week at a time," he told CTV Toronto.
