No decision on millions saved by city due to inside workers' strike

CTV London: After the strike: No plan for surplus City council must now make a decision about how to spend millions it saved while inside workers were on strike. Daryl Newcombe reports.

London's municipal inside workers return to their jobs Friday, but city council must still decide how to spend millions of dollars save not having to pay 750 salaries for nearly two months.

Going 59 days without a pay cheque was a big financial hit for many CUPE Local 101 members, but a financial boost for the city.

London Mayor Matt Brown says, "Council will have an opportunity [to say] what should be done with those savings, if there are any, and that will be a debate we have at that time."

Early estimates put unpaid wages at $8-9 million, but that figure will drop after strike expenses like security, replacement workers and overtime wages for managers are factored in.

City manager Art Zuidema says overtime costs were closely monitored and, "probably sits well under half-a-million dollars."

But spending that money can be politically sensitive, especially as city hall tries to re-build morale among returning workers.

There are many ideas floating around, but nothing concrete so far.

However, in 2009, the City of Windsor did something almost unthinkable when it returned the strike surplus to taxpayers.

The city acknowledged taxpayers had paid for services that weren't delivered during the strike and council divided net savings evenly, sending every taxpayer a cheque for $72 before the end of the year.