Strike watch is officially over: part-time recreation workers take Rob Ford’s deal

Just as mayor and labour oracle Rob Ford predicted, the 8,600 part-time city workers who run Toronto’s recreation programs have ratified an agreement with the city. That means, of CUPE Local 79’s four bargaining units, only part-time long-term care workers are still without a deal, and their dispute is being settled through binding arbitration. The inside workers’ contracts are the last big labour fights on Ford’s agenda (his administration already settled with Toronto’s outside workers and librarians), so his latest prophecy—“There won’t be any labour disruptions over the next four years”—is pretty much a sure bet. Sure, Ford’s got his critics, but that’s a boast that David Miller couldn’t make. Read the entire story [National Post] »