Calgarians Unaware of City's Council's Decision to Contract Out Garbage Collection

CALGARY, AB, May 27, 2021 /CNW/ - Most Calgarians are unaware of a seven-year pilot project that will privatize the City of Calgary's garbage collection in the north and western portions of Wards 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.

In a recent survey, 80 percent of Calgarians said they didn't know that City Council has decided to contract out up to a quarter the city's residential black cart collection services as part of a seven-year pilot project. Even those living in the affected areas were unaware this change in services had been decided.

The survey, financed by CUPE Local 37 and 38 who represent City workers, closely mirrored the methodology and approach that The City of Calgary uses for its annual Citizen Satisfaction survey.

"We aren't disputing the data done by The City of Calgary, we simply wanted to dig deeper into how much Calgarians really know about some of the issues that are putting City services and ultimately the quality of service at risk," says Cyril Wilson, President CUPE Local 37.

The survey data reinforced that Calgarians are very happy with the services they receive. This included Calgarians (living in single family homes) overwhelmingly stating their waste collection is reliable. The average score was 9 out of 10, and 75% of those in the survey scored 9 or 10 out of 10.

"This doesn't surprise us," says Cyril Wilson, President of CUPE Local 37 who represents the employees currently responsible for the City's waste collection. "We know the people who do these jobs are dedicated and hard working. Surveys like this reinforce how great these services are and how much Calganians rely on these people, rain or shine - even through a global pandemic - they don't stop working."

The survey showed that not only were most Calgarians unaware of the plan to privatize black cart, when asked, over three-quarters of residents (77%) would prefer to see the City explore alternatives instead of cuts to, or privatization of, garbage collection.

After hearing that the City had previously studied privatizing waste collection, and knowing the recommendation from that study was to keep a public system, more than twice as many Calgarians disagree with privatization (47%) than agree (21%).

"There are bigger issues for the council to focus on," says Wilson. "Issues that will yield a far better financial result than this extended pilot program." Wilson calls into question the seven-year duration and questionable savings after significant costs to make the change.

Over three-quarters of residents (77%) would prefer to see the City explore alternatives instead of privatization of garbage collection.

Calgarians were very clear on priorities for City Council. 

• 59% of residents agree that the City Council has other priorities they should be tackling instead of garbage collection.

The top three priorities are:

• Infrastructure, traffic, roads, snow removal (42%).
• The economy (33%).
• Homelessness, poverty, affordable housing (27%).

"We want to ensure that Calgarians are aware of these. Calgary is one of the highest ranked cities in the world in terms of quality of life," says Wilson. These cuts jeopardize that and will for generations to come.

We ask Calgarians to let City Council know they don't want this pilot program."

Backgrounder

CUPE Local 37 and CUPE Local 38 represent Calgary's outdoor and indoor workers. These hard working employees are responsible for keeping the city running smoothly day to day and week to week by executing the plans set out by city leaders, as voted on by you.

Members of these unions fill roles in:

• Waste and recycling services
• Public water and wastewater services (including boat patrol)
• Supply, facility and fleet management
• Park maintenance and animal care at the Calgary Zoo
• Golf course, aquatic, fitness and leisure centre management
• Police services, community standards and Calgary housing
• Transportation maintenance, construction and business services
• City planning and development, and building services (including 3-1-1)
• City administration, including the by-law office
• Traffic and parking
• City warehouses
• Public Art Administration

The survey, set to mirror the way The City of Calgary does it's Citizen Satisfaction Survey, was conducted by telephone using random probability sampling with 600 residents living inside the pilot project area. Calls included both landline (56%) and mobile (44%) phones. The overall level, the results of this survey can be considered accurate to within +/-4%, 19 times out of 20, (95% Confidence Interval).

The objectives of this research were to:

• better understand satisfaction with services provided by CUPE members.
• determine awareness of City of Calgary plans regarding privatization/outsourcing.
• understand resident perceptions and reactions to outsourcing in general.
• understand resident awareness, perceptions and reactions to outsourcing black cart collection in the Northwest.

The survey was conducted by Metroline Research Group.

SOURCE Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)