Toronto The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is set to call a province-wide boycott of the City of Greater Sudbury if a meeting on Thursday between labour leaders and Mayor David Courtemanche does not make progress toward settling the Sudbury hydro strike, says Sid Ryan, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario.
I am pleased that the OFL executive board this morning approved a motion of solidarity with the members of CUPE 4705 who have been on strike for more than three months, Ryan said. The first step is to meet with the mayor this week to look at ways of resolving this dispute. The second step, if he refuses to move, will be a full scale boycott of Sudbury.
CUPE ambulance workers have already scheduled a conference in Sudbury in November. If the boycott is called, Ryan said, the conference will move to another community.
We take no pleasure in boycotting a city like Sudbury, Ryan said. However, our members have offered a variety of alternatives to the Greater Sudbury Hydro board that would provide them with savings sooner than the regressive position they have maintained to deny benefits to future retirees.
Ryan and other labour leaders have a meeting with Courtemanche scheduled for Thursday.
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For more information, please contact:
Sid Ryan, President, CUPE Ontario, 416-209-0066 (cell)
Pat Daley, CUPE Communications, 416-616-6142 (cell)