With Town of Whitby municipal workers starting their third week on strike today, it’s time for Council to meet with them to find a resolution, said CUPE 53.
“It might be the start of our third week but we’re not going anywhere,” said Rob Radford, President of CUPE 53. “In fact, we’re calling on Council to join us on the picket line so they can hear our side of things.”
After being on strike since October 14, the 300 full-time municipal employees in Whitby are ramping up efforts to push Council to play a bigger role in resolving the labour dispute, one primarily about concessions regarding scheduling and hours.
“The Employer has done a lot of bargaining in public as of late instead of talking with us,” said Radford. “This has led to a lot of misinformation getting out there in the public. So, we’re inviting all of Council to just meet us on the picket line so we can clear things up.”
“Council needs to know we have a long history of bargaining without these concessions, that we’re resolute in scrapping them, and that Council has both the power and the obligation to force the Employer back to the table.”
The picket line for Monday is at Town Hall, 575 Rossland Road East, Monday to Friday from 12 noon to 4 pm. From Tuesday, October 31st onwards they will be at Town Hall, 575 Rossland Road East and Whitby Public Works, 333 McKinney Drive from 8 am to 4 pm.