CUPE National President Paul Moist and CUPE Ontario Division President Sid Ryan were in Windsor this morning to join local CUPE leaders Jean Fox, President CUPE 543 and Jim Woods, President CUPE Local 82 in a news conference. The two locals representing city workers have been engaged in a tough strike with the City of Windsor for seven weeks.
Moist and Ryan emphasized the entire union’s support for these local workers, and made clear that after seven weeks on strike and with the City of Windsor refusing to return to the table, the responsible thing to do is to submit the outstanding issues to arbitration.
Moist said: “After seven weeks on strike and the City refusing to come to the bargaining table, this is what our local union members want , and we believe it is what the people of Windsor want - they want the union and the City to find a quick and responsible end to this strike and get services restored. And the way to do that is arbitration.”
Ryan announced that CUPE will be forwarding approximately $250,000 to support the local union strike. A collection from the floor at the recent Ontario Division Convention raised $125,000 in an enthusiastic pass-the-hat, an amount that CUPE National will match.
