CUPE 500 Calls on Winnipeg City Council to Reject GFL Garbage Contract

CUPE 500 Calls on Winnipeg City Council to Reject GFL Garbage Contract

WINNIPEG, TREATY 1 – Winnipeg’s largest union says that Winnipeg City Council needs to go back to the drawing board on the Request for Proposals (RFP) for garbage and recycling services.

“The garbage contract stinks,” said Gord Delbridge, President of CUPE 500. “From start to finish, the process, the bids, and the contractor selected all need to be trashed.”

The RFP process began without consultation with CUPE 500, despite a repeated Council direction, including motions by Councillor Mayes that direct the Public Service to engage with the union prior to contracts.

“I would think Council’s direction to consult is pretty clear based on the history here,” said Delbridge. “But that’s not what happened.”
The Union also raised concerns that the RFP did not require bidders to demonstrate a plan for managing their environmental impact—an area that accounted for only slightly more than two percent of the overall evaluation rubric.

“The successful bidder, GFL, stated in their submission that they do not have a plan to operate as a green company,” said Delbridge. “That should concern everyone.”

GFL recently moved its headquarters from Canada to the United States, which has raised serious concerns about their debt levels, as the CEO has recently purchased himself a private jet and a yacht.

“This isn’t a company Winnipeg should be in business with,” said Delbridge. “We have an American firm, pulling millions out of Winnipeg’s economy to fund yachts and private jets? Give me a break.”

CUPE is urging Council to defeat this motion and consult properly with CUPE 500 on bringing some of the work in-house and ensuring that Canadian companies are able to bid on the rest.

“This will tell us which councillors are with team Canada and which are not,” said Delbridge “We have seen that is something voters care about a great deal in previous elections.”

The Canadian Union of Public Employees is Canada’s largest union representing more than 800,000 members. In Manitoba, CUPE represents approximately 40,000 members working in health care facilities, personal care homes, home care, school divisions, municipal services, social services, disability support services, child care centres, public utilities, libraries, and family emergency services.

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  For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
  Dale Edmunds, CUPE Communications / Media Contact 204-915-7429