Locked out CUPE 3768 members—municipal employees at the Town of Holyrood in Newfoundland—symbolize the struggle municipal workers face across Canada, say CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn and Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick.
The employees provide snow clearing, water and sewage treatment, and clerical and accounting services. Despite their heroic efforts to keep snow cleared during last month’s state of emergency, Mayor Gary Goobie moved to lockout the employees and contract out their work to a company owned by the Deputy Mayor and his brother.
“An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. The 280,000 CUPE members in Ontario express their solidarity with CUPE 3768 members in the face of this unjustifiable lock-out,” said CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn.
“CUPE 3768 is on the frontlines of a battle Canadian municipal workers are waging against precarious work and declining pay. This is a truly national struggle and they should know that the eyes of workers across the country are upon them. They are not alone.”
CUPE Ontario has over 80,000 members in the municipal sector—the people who make our towns and cities work. Learn more at www.cupe.on.ca/sectors/municipal.
