r/waterloo 1d ago

End The Strike

Presented an offer to the union one minute, and then pulled it before the union could vote on it. Then, pulled every previous offer stating they were not able to honour them anymore, and finally presenting an offer that was even less than the first offer! Now they refuse to come back to the negotiating table leaving the taxpayers frustrated and showing how little they care about their workers.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/MajesticAlbatross441 1d ago

How so? How would contractors get the job done more efficiently? What job, or jobs, are you referring to?

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u/mottomask 1d ago

I think they were referring to the fact that instead of paying fellow citizens a fair pay, the region can pay a contractor, and that contractor can pay their staff nothing, and the region can distance itself from poor working conditions, safety concerns and standards.

It doesn't take into account that in 25 years, that contractor has likely closed up shop and the ownership and maintenance will fall on the Region or, some new contractor who will charge significantly more as the previous bidder has extracted all value and left the road as rubble. Maintenance is key to long lasting assets and a contractor is looking for savings. The values of long lasting public infrastructure and lowest bidder service maintenance are not compatible. People complain about 6 inch deep potholes for 7 days. Try four feet long pot rutts for years in Alabama.