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The national president of CUPE visited a Western University picket line in a show of support Tuesday for the 330 local union members on strike in a labour impasse that’s now stretched into its fifth week.
Mark Hancock, who helms of the 750,000-worker Canadian Union of Public Employees, said the disruptions caused by the ongoing strike – tensions flared recently when a picket was struck by a vehicle – will continue until contract talks resume.
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“If we’re not bargaining, people will continue to see the disruptions and challenges the university is facing,” Hancock said.
CUPE Local 2361 represents the school’s blue-collar staff, including caretakers, landscapers and trades workers. They walked off the job on Aug. 30 over demands including better pay to keep up with competing employers, such as Fanshawe College.
Hancock says the union has reached out to Western officials to return to the bargaining table, but they haven’t heard back. School officials did not reply to a Free Press request for comment on Tuesday.
University officials have previously said their latest offer to workers included an average annual wage increase of 5.3 per cent in a proposed four-year deal. Union members would earn between $52,000 and $99,000 in the first year of the deal, Western officials said.
Hancock, who went to a picket line at 1151 Richmond St. on Tuesday to show support, said all strikes come to an end, but the employer “needs to figure out how long they want this disruption to last for students and (Western) employees.”
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He added: “These folks (on strike) don’t want to be here. They want to do their jobs, get regular pay cheques, and support their families.”
Asked about the possibility of arbitration, Hancock said he hopes it doesn’t get to that point. “We believe in the right to strike and, hopefully, we will get a deal at the bargaining table.”
It was Sept. 19 when a striking worker was struck by a vehicle that local union leaders say tried to drive through the picket line at the entrance to Elborn College. On Tuesday, Hancock said the worker is “OK.”
London police say a driver was given a provincial offence notice for one count of not turning safely.
Chris Yates is president of Local 2361. He said the workers are on strike as “an act of desperation” to get better pay and working conditions.
“Two-thirds of our members are working two to three jobs just to get by. This strike is their act of desperation. We need improvements now to keep going,” he said.
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