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The lengthy just-settled Windsor Salt strike is just one of the reasons why, when it comes to workers struggling for something better, the eyes of the labour movement are on Windsor.
That was just one of the messages conveyed to participants at Monday’s Labour Day parade and rally, where the local labour movement’s vibe was a little more spirited this year.
“It wasn’t just a fight that we’re fighting for at Windsor Salt — I think everyone was watching how this plays out with a big American holding firm owning or taking control of Canadian natural resources,” said Sean Smith, Unifor Local 240 plant chairperson at Windsor Salt’s evaporation plant.
Marching with Local 240 president Jodi Nesbitt and other organized workers on a sunny, boisterous day, both said the 192-day strike that ended with a new five-year contract a week earlier had a big impact on workers’ lives but resulted in favourable terms for workers.
Monday’s Labour Day events provided an opportunity to look back on prior struggles and successes but also for the labour movement to look ahead at where to focus its energy over the next year.
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“The theme this year is “lifting everybody up,” Mario Spagnuolo, interim president of the Windsor and District Labour council, told the Star in advance of Monday’s traditional march and rally.
“In the last few years unions have helped to win things like … paid sick leave in the federal sector, dental care for children and low-income families,” he said. “So what we’re seeing in the labour movement is a demand by workers, justifiably, to make improvements to their salary, their benefits and their working conditions.”
The encouraging outlook for job creation in Windsor — led by the $5-billion NextStar EV battery plant expected to provide about 2,500 direct jobs and thousands more in spinoff employment — offers an environment for unions to grow and have an impact, Spagnuolo said, noting that about one-third of Canada’s workers are unionized.
“I think it comes with the territory of being in Windsor/Essex County that we are a very strong labour town, labour city, and that other cities and towns across Canada look at us to see what we’re doing, and we’re models for other areas.”
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One of the major challenges that lies ahead is the auto negotiations, he said. Unifor, which represents about 18,000 Canadian auto workers from the three major Detroit auto companies, announced it would negotiate first with Ford Motor Company.
Those negotiations, once complete, are intended to set the pattern for negotiations with other automakers. “The auto sector, obviously, is on the forefront of all of our minds,” said Spagnuolo.
Other challenges include education, health care, climate change and affordable living, he said.
“We … have a health-care crisis that I think we need to continue to advocate for,” he said adding jobs in that sector are “often unstable and undervalued and underpaid.
“PSWs (personal support workers), for example, in our long-term care facilities — that continues to be an issue for our community and for the labour movement.”
And climate change has “already had a dire impact on how, in our communities and our workplaces, we’re experiencing the effects … more and more,” he said.
Unifor selects Ford as strike target
New contract ratified at Windsor Salt, ends six-month strike
Affordability continues to be a major issue for the labour movement, Spagnuolo said.
“While the cost of everyday necessities continues to skyrocket … the wealthy continue to make more and more money, and those at the bottom continue to struggle, so we want to make sure that everybody pays their fair share and helps families out, especially those that are struggling at the very bottom.”
Monday’s parade started at the Unifor Local 444/200 union hall but then took a new route along Tecumseh Road to Lanspeary Park, where there was a classic car show, inflatables for children and live music, as well as the traditional greetings and messages from local labour leaders and politicians.
bamacleod@postmedia.com
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