Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The World-Spectator

A delegation made up of CUPE 5428 members met with Esterhazy Town Council during their regular meeting on April 23. 

While Council did make good on meeting with the union, Mayor Bot called for the delegation to appear in camera, and that only CUPE 5428 members be in attendance.

“On our agenda this evening is a request for a delegation from CUPE to speak to Council,” Mayor Bot said. “After reviewing the document sent by CUPE and consulting with municipal advisory and our legal team, it was found that the material involves current legal matters and mentions past and present employees. To comply with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and on legal advice, we’ll move the delegation to an in camera session to ensure that we follow provincial law.”

He then invited CUPE 5428 members to stay, asking everyone to be respectful.

CUPE Saskatchewan President Kent Peterson was one of those people turned away from the meeting between the local members and council.

“I joined there just to support the workers that were there—I wasn’t making the presentation, I wasn’t talking to anyone,” Peterson said. “I was just there to stand behind those workers as they made their presentation. So I had to leave and another colleague that joined me to support those workers had to leave.”

Peterson said there were two other members of the public in attendance that also had to leave prior to the 20-minute private portion of the meeting. Later, the CUPE Sask president asked the employee who made the presentation to council for a copy of what he said.

“I asked for a copy of his presentation because I wanted to see if there was any private or confidential information in there,” Peterson explained. “All they talked about was wanting to reach a fair deal at the bargaining table, they talked about the need for fair wages and a three-year deal.”

Mayor Bot felt the delegation went well, telling the World-Spectator “there was zero drama, it was informative, and they were heard.”

In a media release dated April 14, the union said that CUPE was ‘ignored’ and ‘denied a voice’ during a previous Council meeting on April 10, calling on the Town to return to the bargaining table in good faith. That was also the date when Peterson says the Town forced a vote with their final offer, ultimately prolonging the process.

“They forced a vote and those votes were just counted and scrutinized here a couple of days ago,” Peterson said. “The reason the Town does that, of course, is now we can’t bargain while the vote’s taking place. So the reason we’re not at the table is because the Town forced a vote on their language that they knew we wouldn’t accept. For them to say they’re happy to get to the table, well we could have been at the table all this time.” 

The earliest the two sides can return to bargaining is May 12.

“We’re committed to sitting back down with them, and they keep stressing good faith, and so we’re committed to sitting back down in good faith, and they are committed to the same thing,” Mayor Bot said, adding that he’s hopeful both sides can meet at the bargaining table in the next month, if schedules allow. “I’m hoping that everybody can come together and we can strike a deal that’s not only good for our employees, but for our taxpayers and everybody involved. The last thing I want to do is put a division between the town. I just want to be transparent.”

Included in the offer from the Town to unionized employees is a 14 per cent wage increase over five years (2.8 per cent each year), a $1,000 signing bonus, full retroactive pay, and continued 100 per cent employer-paid benefits.

The Union would rather see that wage increase over three years for a 4.6 per cent annual increase instead.

“There’s some catching up it needs to do, but even in their latest proposal, they want to lock the workers into a five-year agreement with average wage increases less than three per cent,” Peterson said. “It doesn’t even meet the current needs never mind catch them up.”

As for the retroactive pay and benefits, Peterson pointed out that those things already exist.

“Those provisions already exist; retroactive pay is standard,” he said. “These folks haven’t had a contract for a couple of years, so no matter the workplace, retroactive pay is standard as well. It’s not costing the Town additional money, it’s not an extra bonus. This is money that those workers would have been owed anyway, and if they’re going to offer a signing bonus, what we would say is, ‘don’t worry about the signing bonus, put it onto the wages’.”

In late March, CUPE members voted 80 per cent in favour of taking job action, up to and including full withdrawal of services, although the local is not currently in a legal strike position.

Recently, Mayor Bot sought to address some of the concerns brought forward by CUPE members, including the phase out of the Town’s Finance Officer position, something Mayor Bot acknowledges was not easy.

“This decision was not made lightly,” he said. “After careful consideration, it was determined that there is not enough ongoing work to justify the role. In its place, we’re proposing to add a Town Foreman position—a role we believe better supports current operational needs.”

Peterson disagrees with eliminating the position, adding that more work is transferred to Union employees in the Town Office.

“What they’ve done instead is eliminated that position, laid off one of our members, and now they contract out that job to a private company for profit,” he said. “So it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense and we’re not really interested in agreeing to a contract that eliminates one of the jobs of our members. We just don’t think that’s fair.” 

Seniority was another area in the spotlight, with the collective agreement utilizing an ‘hours worked’ seniority system as set forth by an arbitrator. CUPE would rather see a change to seniority based on hire date instead.

According to Peterson, start date seniority is the standard and it’s the Town who wants to make a change. With a hours worked scenario, an employee taking parental leave could be losing rank.

“She’s being disadvantaged because she’s on maternity leave, raising her kid and other people working would then surpass her in seniority simply because she started a family,” Peterson explained as an example. “And we don’t think that’s right.”

He fears workers injured while at work who would be on disability or sick leave would also be passed by their co-workers. 

“We are carefully reviewing the implications of this proposed change and are committed to ensuring any adjustments are fair, practical, and in the best interest of both employees and the municipality,” Mayor Bot said.

Wildlife feeding bylaw passed

Effective April 23, residents of Esterhazy who willingly feed wildlife will face fines if caught. Councillor Martin Pfeifer initially proposed the bylaw during the Feb. 27 meeting of Council, and it had been discussed until the April 10 first reading. 

Essentially, Councillor Pfeifer cited concerns of how actions such as feeding deer during winter months also attracts predators into town, setting the conditions for a potentially dangerous situation. 

“This is an attempt, this is start,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s going to fix it, we’ve had deer here for hundreds of years. You’re not going to stop it, I get that. But if you sit back and do nothing, that’s what we’re going to be accused of if somebody gets hurt—you did nothing.”

Councillor Nichol Kripki had heard feedback from residents opposed to portions of bylaw such as fines being up to $5,000.

“The province already has a dangerous wildlife feeding bylaw,” she said. “Their fine is for $1,000 and that includes feeding wolves, cougars, coyote and bears. So there is a provincial bylaw that exists already for feeding dangerous wildlife.”

As for the idea that deer would be attracting predatory wildlife into Esterhazy, Councillor Kripki was skeptical.

“We need to make this decision an evidence-based decision, that is one of our mandates,” she said. “We need to look at the evidence as well. Is this going to stop the deer from coming to town and bringing dangerous wildlife with it? And I don’t agree that it will. But if you have evidence, I would love to see that evidence.”

Councillor Bryant Campbell was another voice against the bylaw, calling this “a one-off year.”

“I don’t believe it’s going to stop the deer from coming in, or the coyotes from coming in,” he said. “I don’t think we need to waste any more time on this. If we’re doing it, let’s put it in. It’s going to be a one-off year, we know what the result’s going to be anyway.”

Before voting on the bylaw, an amendment was made to reduce the penalty fines to a maximum of $1,000.

The bylaw was given second and third reading and passed, with Councillors Campbell and Kripki voting against the motions. 

Downtown site coverage expanded

An amendment to the zoning bylaw regarding maximum site coverage for commercial buildings in the bustling downtown core of Esterhazy received second and third reading last week. Previously, the bylaw stated a building could occupy up to 75 per cent of a property, but that has now increased to 90 per cent. 

Lotto grant money

Council approved a recommendation from the Recreation Committee on how it plans to spend $28,849 in Saskatchewan Lottery grant allocation. 

The breakdown is as follows: EMBI – $5,000; Town of Esterhazy (including public skating, shinny, Santa Day, Canada Day, Special events) – $4,549.70; Growing Tree Pre-school – $3,000; Esterhazy Minor Ball – $2,500; Esterhazy Curling Club – $2,000; Kaposvar Historical Site – $2,000; Esterhazy High School – $2,000; Esterhazy Regional Park – $1,600; Esterhazy Golden Jets – $1,500; Jean Pask Library – $1,200; Bohemka Gymnastics – $1,000; Esterhazy Youth Curling Club – $500; and Skate Esterhazy – $500.

Arena and hall rates increase

The Recreation Committee met recently to discuss arena and hall rates in Esterhazy.

“They haven’t been changed since 2021, so we went through them, we collaborated, we looked at other towns surrounding us,” explained Michelle Fuhr, Community Development and Recreation Director. 

Arena rates will increase for the 2025/26 season by 10 per cent, followed by five per cent increases in the two following years. 

As for weekend hall rentals, this year will see a four per cent increase, as will the two years following. 

Council approved the increases as recommended.

Learn more about our News Monitoring here.

---