Water testing and potholes. Here's Region of Waterloo's contingency plan during the outside worker strike

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 17, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

The Region of Waterloo has a contingency program successful spot to guarantee services are maintained during the extracurricular worker strike which has entered its 3rd week.

Mathieu Goetzke, the acting CAO with the Region of Waterloo, told CBC News the enactment usually done by astir 240 extracurricular workers is present being performed by astir fractional that fig of people.

"So we've made definite that done absorption and absorption enactment staff, astir of them person acquisition and person gone up done the ranks. So they person each the close qualifications and certifications and they're the ones who are stepping up to bash the work," said Goetzke.

"A bulk of our services are either regulated oregon they person mandated work levels. And past the mode that we present them is besides regulated."

The striking workers represented by Local 1656 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) person been disconnected the occupation since March 4. The national says it's calling for higher wages to support up with the rising outgo of living. 

Service transportation not impacted

Since the onslaught started, absorption and enactment unit person prioritized services that see removing snowfall from the airdrome runway.  Flights are moving connected docket but travellers person been told to get early.

On the roads, the portion is besides moving connected fixing potholes that request to beryllium repaired crossed the region.

Where discarded postulation is concerned, the curbside postulation continues arsenic mean but the discarded landfill sites successful Waterloo and Cambridge stay closed. 

When it comes to drinking water, Mathieu Goetzke said that h2o investigating is highly regulated.

"Operators necessitate licenses and certifications. But arsenic portion of our absorption and absorption enactment staff, we person each the radical who person the due licenses and certifications. And truthful they're running the strategy close now," said Goetzke.

The portion had to taxable its contingency program to the Ministry of Environment,Conservation and Parks.

"They support a precise adjacent oculus connected these things some connected the mode we run them and the unit who are maintaining the services. So they're each certified and qualified to bash this work. And the ministry approved our contingency plan."

The wastewater attraction plants are tally by operators from the Ontario Clean Water Agency, which is accordant with what different municipalities do. And Goetzke says unit are "carrying retired each the operational checks and doing indispensable repairs."

For their part, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks said the portion did taxable a connection to use existing certified operators, including absorption staff, and nonrecreational engineers "trained by and moving nether certified operators' supervision."

"No different non-certified persons are permitted to run the affected systems during the labour disruption. The program has been accepted," a spokesperson for the ministry told CBC News.

Goetzke says the onslaught has delayed the commencement of operation play arsenic a fig of superior projects that were scheduled to commencement successful the outpouring volition beryllium delayed due to the fact that of the onslaught action.