The Canadian Union of Public Employees 1505 (CUPE) and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) announced a joint plan to enhance service delivery efficiency after several months of negotiations.

Earlier this year, the RMWB informed CUPE of the potential outsourcing and restructuring of some municipal services, which CUPE said could affect nearly half of their workforce. This announcement sparked pushback from CUPE and some members of the public.

On March 28, the RMWB withdrew its notice to the union and chose to continue discussions on enhancing operational effectiveness while supporting the workforce essential for delivering vital public services.

On Monday, the RMWB and CUPE announced they had concluded negotiations and agreed on an Implementation Framework on Workforce Utilization and Scheduling, which averts layoffs of unionized full-time employees. The framework includes changes to scheduling, the number of staff working on statutory holidays, reductions in overtime, job consolidations, and adjustments to work assignments.

On Thursday, July 6, CUPE Local 1505 posted a message on their website thanking everyone for their support during the labor negotiations.