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A decision to outsource janitorial work at city hall campus that had divided council will now not take place.
In November, by a 6-5 count with Mayor Drew Dilkens casting the deciding vote, council approved an outsourcing of the jobs that would have displaced seven full-time and seven part-time CUPE Local 543 positions that were paid between $21.76 and $25.61 an hour.
The move was expected to save the city nearly $1 million over three years with the annual cost of $845,890 dropping to $543,540 under GDI Services, which had secured the work.
However, the City of Windsor said in a release that the vendor informed council that it will not be able to honour the price and has withdrawn.
As a result, council has now suspended plans to outsource the work and will re-establish the seven full-time caretaker positions currently vacant.
“I think it’s a good news story for the community,” Local 543 president Dave Petten said. “These are what I like to refer to as community-based jobs with the type of pay and benefits to allow someone to contribute to the community and raise a family.”
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Those employees impacted by council’s original decision to outsource were to be shifted to vacant caretaker positions elsewhere in the corporation.
Now, Petten says the city will have to do some hiring.
“My understanding is about seven full-time people will be hired and nine part time hired,” Petten said. “I haven’t been given a timeline for the hirings, but it will happen in the near future.”
Petten said there is no guarantee the topic of outsourcing won’t pop up again in the future.
“I can’t say this is permanent, but I’m hopeful that services will be maintained by 543 members,” he said. “I will say that I’m very appreciative that council made the decision to reconsider. These (workers) are a line of defence against COVID-19.”
In a release, Dilkens said that council is ready to move forward on the subject.
“Our goal has always been to deliver efficient service delivery for Windsor taxpayers,” Dilkens said. “Because the vendor could not keep to their offered price, we will not be proceeding with their service delivery and will continue to provide these services in-house.”
Once the vacant positions are filled, new employees will become union members of Local 543.
jpparker@postmedia.com
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