The town of Tecumseh, east of Windsor, may face labour disruptions as early as next Monday, the Canadian Union of Public Employees has warned.

The 41 inside and outside municipal employees voted overwhelmingly last month in favour of giving their negotiating committee a strike mandate if necessary.

CUPE official Laura Moore says union negotiators will remain available to talk this week, but the unionized employees will walk off the job unless the town's administration puts forth a "workable proposal."

She says the town is proposing concessions for unionized staff that would strip retired employees of benefits after recently awarding non-unionized workers wage increases.

Tecumseh town council has since decided to freeze the pay of about 15 non-unionized staff for the next two years.

Mayor Gary McNamara says he's optimistic a strike can be avoided.

"They're right now in mediation. We're quite hopeful that they can reach an agreement between now and Monday," he says.