The southwestern Ontario city of Stratford is slowly returning to normal, after municipal employees in two CUPE locals there ended a six-week strike.
The members of Local 197 and 1385 have ratified a new contract that includes wage increases of over 6 per cent.
The Stratford inside and outside workers went on strike after their mayor gave himself a 23 per cent wage increase, councillors received a 19 per cent increase and senior managers received average raises of about 14 per cent.
The Stratford locals ran an ad campaign featuring cartoons of little piggy versions of their elected officials holding wads of cash and a headline reading…”Why is this little piggy so happy?”
Days before the strike was settled, CUPE had threatened to run ads in several Ontario and U.S. cities urging tourists not to visit Stratford during the labour dispute. Stratford is home to the world famous Stratford Festival which features the works of William Shakespeare.