Union 'shocked and disgusted' by City of St. John's job cuts

The union locals representing municipal workers with the City of St. John's are voicing their displeasure with recent job cuts brought down by council.

CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador and CUPE locals 569 and 1289 say they are "shocked and disgusted" with the cuts resulting from the City of St. John's program review.

"From the onset of this review the employer stated that all stakeholders in the exercise 'are in this together'," CUPE national representative Brian Farewell said in a statement released Tuesday.

"Now that three phases of the process are complete, it's obvious that we're not in it together."

Farewell said the job losses will affect a number of union workers.

"In this latest round of cuts, the employer terminated eight to 10 positions and severely reduced the hours of work of another 15 or 16 of our members," he said.

"That includes building inspectors, environmental landfill technicians, traffic analysts, humane service workers, traffic signage workers and others."

Farewell called on council to also examine its own benefits when trying to cut costs.

"If the city truly wants to show leadership, why don't they adjust the wages, benefits and numbers of council and upper management?" he said.

"The city should treat the contracts they have in place with CUPE and its unionized workers with the same respect they give to their own wages and benefits."