CUPE Threatens More Transit Labour Disruption
Posted May 25, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CUPE, the biggest union in Ontario, has big news from their 45 th annual convention: they’re thinking about a massive labour disruption.
Premier Dalton McGuinty may have got more than he bargained for when he talked about making transit an essential service.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees said that if the province goes forward with those plans, they are considering some sort of job action.
Removing the right to strike will not be tolerated by members, Ontario President Sid Ryan said.
In other union news, labour activists gathered at the Rogers Centre Sunday.
Hundreds of labour activists from across Canada kicked off their national convention Sunday with a trip to a Blue Jays game in an effort to support Rogers Centre concession workers.
Concession workers have been trying to form a union since July 2007 with Unite Here, which represents similar employees at 75 other sporting venues.
The union says the staff want to improve working conditions at Toronto’s only major non-union sporting venue.
It says Aramark, which recently took over the contract to provide concession services, has dubbed them all probationary employees even though many have worked at the venue for years.
Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti says what the company’s doing is wrong and many sports fans want to know they’re being served by workers who are protected by a union.
The plight of Rogers Centre concession workers garnered widespread attention in the past when actor Danny Glover came out in support of their efforts.
The Canadian Press
