CSU 52 Statement in Response to COE's Media Release

February 28, 2024

CSU 52 members were well aware of the City’s final offer before they gave the union a 91% mandate to strike. Although we are disappointed with the Alberta Labour Board’s result, we respect the decision to move forward with the Proposal Vote which will have membership vote on the City’s only offer. To be clear, the City of Edmonton’s “best and final” offer has been the only offer they’ve brought to the table during the last 18 months of negotiations.

Edmontonians deserve complete and fair information. It’s disappointing that the City of Edmonton has cherry-picked data to create an inaccurate picture of membership compensation. We have requested a breakdown on how the City arrived at their averages, but haven’t received any information as of yet.

Civic Service Union 52 (CSU 52) has a unique membership base that makes up more than 300 different varying positions which do include architects, IT professionals and accountants. However, the majority of our membership base are frontline workers (911 operators, fitness instructors, library administration, DATS coordinators, 311 operators etc.) whose compensation has not kept up with the rate of inflation or cost-of-living increases - and a significant number of the membership make less than a living wage.

We recognize and place importance on fiscal prudence, which is why we have countered with reasonable wage increases of 1.5%, 1.5%, and 2% all while, City Council took a 4.8% raise themselves over the last two years. After five years of not receiving a wage increase, CSU 52 members are beyond frustrated.

Our membership provides the important core services we all rely on. We strongly urge that City Administration return to the bargaining table to avoid a work stoppage.