Aside from the task of dealing with our rapidly eroding roads and the creation of a recycling program, the City of Estevan also has some labour issues to deal with in 2013.
The City's collective bargaining agreements with the Estevan Police Association and Canadian Union of Public Employees both expired in 2012 meaning both groups are currently working without a contract.
Mayor Roy Ludwig said the City is currently negotiating with CUPE and feels the negotiations have gone very well.
"We've had several meetings and most of, if not all, of the non-monetary issues are resolved," Ludwig said. "Now it is just a question of the monetary issues and we hope within a few more meetings to get those resolved as well."
Ludwig said one of the key non-monetary issues was the recruitment and retention of employees. Like many other businesses in Estevan, the City has not been immune to the ongoing labour shortage and in recent months they have struggled to find enough employees to keep pace with their workload.
"We do have to concentrate on how we recruit and second of all how do we keep our employees," he said. "We are hearing what CUPE has to say and we are having some discussions around that."
Although the CUPE contract is their current focus, Ludwig expects they will begin speaking with the EPA before long.
The City and police association had a somewhat acrimonious history in the past decade but the last two contract negotiations have gone smoothly. Ludwig anticipates that will be the case this time around as well.
In a recent interview, EPA president, Cst. Jay Pierson, said he also expects amicable negotiations.
"Because of our past two rounds of negotiations and how productive they were, how positive they were on both sides, we aren't anticipating any large concerns," Pierson said. "Both parties have their interests at heart, and we'll go forward in a very positive, professional manner.
"We have not gotten together formally yet. It has just been through exchange of e-mails and speaking in person, but no dates of formal talks have taken place.
"Certainly, in the interest of everybody it's to do it quickly, but we also want to do it with the best thought process and the best preparation possible. There's no timeline set."
An amicable negotiation would be in stark contrast to what is currently taking place in the City of Weyburn where they are currently locked in a bitter dispute with their police association.
According to a recent article in the Weyburn Review, the WPA has been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2011. Wages are reportedly the main sticking point as the Weyburn officers feel they should be paid the same amount as their colleagues in Estevan.
Pierson noted one of the issues the WPA is facing is the province's essential services negotiation does not allow the officers to strike or even undertake a work to rule campaign. There is also no means of forcing arbitration, which might help speed the process along.
"In Weyburn, they're dealing with a very prolonged negotiation process, where there's no mechanism to bring both parties to a negotiated conclusion," Pierson said. "We used to have things such as the option of striking or work to rule, things of that nature, but currently there's not. So this process in Weyburn is dragging out and neither party is benefitting from that."
