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BONFIELD, Ont. – After cancelling several public council meetings including the latest scheduled meeting for this past Tuesday evening, the Bonfield Mayor called a special meeting for today, Thursday, August 15 at 4:00 pm (when the majority of Bonfield residents will be at work) to make plans to hire scabs and prolong the strike, warned the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing the 16 Bonfield municipal workers.
“The Mayor is being underhanded and sneaky about the whole situation,” said Steve Boyle, CUPE National Representative. “While he cancelled several public meetings in the past weeks to prevent the public from speaking about the mayor’s actions that led to the strike, he’s being underhanded by suddenly calling for a special meeting for today at 4:00 when most of the residents will be at work, to make plans to hire scabs.”
“The Mayor talked about needing a cooling off period after first forcing the workers on strike and now he’s making plans to hire scabs that will prolong the strike – how will this solve anything?” continued Boyle. “This latest stunt will certainly heat up the situation further – eventually the Mayor and Council will have to face the residents for their actions, for pushing their workers on the picket line and denying this community proper public services.”
The workers have been on strike for a fair contract since August 1. In addition to pushing for concessions, including plans to contract out public services, the Mayor threatened to impose new terms and conditions forcing the workers on strike. “Now he’s avoiding the public by scheduling meetings at inconvenient times for the public to avoid hearing from the residents about the strike. The only way this strike will end is at the bargaining table – avoiding the public, cancelling meetings and hiring scabs will only prolong the strike and aggravate the already heated situation.”
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For further information, please contact:
Steve Boyle, CUPE National Representative, 705-662-5975
James Chai, CUPE Communications, 905-739-3999
