Two striking municipal employees of Black River-Matheson Township near Timmins, ON, were allegedly struck by trucks driven by replacement or scab workers as they crossed their picket line on Wednesday, February 14.
Fourteen municipal employees represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1490 were locked out by their employer in October of 2023 during a labour dispute over a new contract.
The members then overwhelmingly voted to strike in January of this year after they rejected what the municipality said was their final offer. At issue are wages, which the union feels are not keeping up with the rate of inflation. Wages for new hires are of particular concern, as union members worry about employee retention.
The striking workers handle snow removal, building maintenance and other municipal services. The township has contracted their responsibilities out to private contractors.
Calls for investigation into alleged scab violence
Both CUPE Ontario and the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) are calling on the Ontario provincial police to investigate Wednesday’s incident.
“CUPE Ontario is extremely alarmed to learn that CUPE 1490 members were put in harm’s way again,” said CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn. “These workers are on a legal strike on a legal picket line, which I’m proud to have visited many times since the start of this dispute.”
OFL president Laura Walton said that this recent example of scab violence against union workers on a picket line shows the need for anti-scab legislation.
“Anti-worker violence of any kind is deplorable,” said Walton. “Incidents like these show why Ontario workers urgently need anti-scab legislation: the use of scabs to replace striking workers almost always causes violence and makes all of us unsafe.”
READ MORE: Anti-scab legislation introduced in win for unions and NDP
A federal anti-scab bill is currently making its way through this session of Parliament.
The legislation, known as Bill C-58, is the culmination of years of work by Canada’s labour movement and the federal NDP.
When introducing the bill, federal labour minister Seamus O’Regan acknowledged that scab workers were “toxic to a workplace.” Support rabble today!
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Nick Seebruch, editor
rabble.ca reached out to the township of Black River-Matheson about the alleged incident, but did not hear back at time of publication.
