What’s open and closed during Oakville's outside workers strike

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As of today, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, the town of Oakville's outside workers and facility operators are officially on strike.

285 employees are represented by CUPE 136, covering staff who work for the town of Oakville in a multitude of positions, including staff at parks, arenas, pools, community centres and on local road crews.

Negotiations to prevent this strike have been ongoing for months, but today's Nov. 2 deadline was set after Town requested a "No Board Report" back on October 10, setting the stage for a possible strike. It was two days later the union members voted to go on strike, choosing today's date as the deadline.

But what exactly does this mean for services and town-operated facilities in Oakville? How will this affect residents until the strike is resolved?

The town reached a tentative agreement with CUPE 1329, the union representing the town’s inside workers, earlier this week on Monday, Oct. 30, so many facilities and services will remain open.

Below is a list of everything that will be open/operational and closed/impacted by Oakville's now ongoing outside workers strike:

What is closed during the strike

  • Loose leaf collection from residential roads
  • All community centres (including Culture & Recreation facility rentals)
  • Culture & Recreation drop-in programs and classes
  • All arenas
  • Washrooms in parks
  • Leash free dog parks
  • Field house at Bronte Athletic Field
  • OPL Express services from libraries (though libraries themselves remain open)

During the strike, town staff say that "cancelled classes and programs will attempt to resume once the labour dispute is over." In addition, all "Fitness memberships will be paused" for gyms at closed centres.

What is open during the strike

Unaffected by the strike includes all of the following:

  • Town Hall, including ServiceOakville and all other services at Town Hall
  • Loose leaf collection from primary/secondary roads
  • Oakville Transit services
  • Libraries (even those operating in closed community centres)
  • Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts
  • Sir John Colborne Recreation Centre for Seniors
  • Oakville Museum

Oakville News will continue to update this list as more information is learned about specific programs, services and locations in town.

Key issues to resolve the strike, according to CUPE Local 136 President Peter Knafelc, are wages to match the accelerating pace of Oakville's cost of living and addressing overlong shifts (up to 12 hours) during seasonal operations.

More information about the strike can be read on Oakville News' original report here.