Workers at Windsor Salt will not be 'starved out,' labour leaders say at rally

Labour leaders in Windsor, Ont., said workers will not be "starved" into ending the Windsor Salt strike that has now stretched on for more than four months. 

At a rally on Thursday outside Windsor city hall, hundreds of workers — including Unifor members and retirees from other mines in Ontario and Nova Scotia — showed their support for more than 250 workers of Windsor Salt currently on strike. The workers are represented by Unifor Locals 240 and 1959. 

"The message is this: This is Windsor, Ontario, this is Windsor-Essex, this is the home of union security," said Ken Lewenza Sr., a former Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 444 and CAW national president. 

"My message to the employer today is you will not starve these workers out."

Unifor members and retirees from mines in Sudbury, Ont., Goderich, Ont., and Pugwash, N.S., — where Windsor Salt also operates a mine — attended Thursday's rally in solidarity with workers. Representatives from Unifor's national branch, including president Lana Payne, spoke at the rally. 

"These are the people that make them the money," said Rob McKellar, president of Unifor Local 823, representing workers at the Windsor Salt mine in Nova Scotia. "They need to do something to get them a contract."

The Windsor Salt mine in Pugwash produces rock salt, McKellar said, and communities in Nova Scotia are feeling the impact of the strike through shortages of salt needed for pools and water softeners. 

Windsor Salt workers have been on strike since Feb. 17. Officials say communications with the company are ongoing. 

Bill Wark, president of Unifor Local 1959 — one of the two unions representing Windsor Salt workers — said members have been on the picket line through all kinds of weather. Air quality in Windsor-Detroit Thursday was measured among the worst in the world. 

"They're starting to feel the strain, it's a long time," Wark said. "I have to give credit, they're holding up incredibly well. 

"We went on strike in freezing cold, endured rain, hail snow, smog, everything but they're still on the picket line, remaining solid."

Workers receive $300 a week in strike pay, meaning some have had to take on additional employment, Wark added. 

Lana Payne, Unifor national president, said the members were standing up for "60 years of collective bargaining."

"Our members will not be starved out. Our members will not be brought to their knees," Payne said. "They are going to get a fair collective agreement, come hell or high water.

"They are going to walk back into that mine, and walk back into that mill with their heads held high. That is the way this is going to end. Make no mistake about that."

Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky challenged the provincial government — calling out colleague and Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie by name — to pass anti-replacement worker legislation tabled by her party. 

"We need politicians who are willing to go after governments at all levels to make them do the right thing," Gretzky said. "Andrew, if you're going to stand with these workers today and show up on the picket line for pictures then you need to be pushing the government you belong to, to pass that legislation. 

In response, Dowie said he had not been consulted on the wording of the bill. 

"The legislation that MPP Gretzky referred to will not end this strike," Dowie said. "I'm happy to sit down to discuss any piece of legislation, but ... I have not been consulted on the wording and something we can all find common ground on and there seems to be not a lot of interest in that from the proposers of the bill."

Earlier this week, Windsor Salt released a statement condemning Unifor Local 1959, one of the unions representing striking workers, for "collapsing" negotiations after coming to a near deal. 

Labour leaders said that statement was an attempt to "bargain in public" while Wark said there was "some truth" but information missing from the company's statement. 

"We're not ... bargaining in the media, but we still have discussions with the company about reaching a fair and equitable collective agreement," Wark said. "It plays on the workers minds seeing this come out."