Windsor-Essex Teachers Step Up Their Support for Striking Salt Workers

Retired teachers on Windsor Salt picket line, May 18, 2023.

Two motions of significance to the Windsor salt workers strike were passed unanimously on May 24 at the annual meeting of the Teachers' Bargaining Unit of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, District 9 (OSSTF D9 - Windsor Essex. Both resolutions show the growing support for the salt workers amongst teachers, whose pension funds are invested in Stone Canyon Industries Holdings Inc.

One motion was for the bargaining unit to advocate that the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) divest from Stone Canyon. This is a significant development because it is the result of all the teachers' unions in Windsor-Essex, along with teachers across Ontario, having publicly called on the OTPP to use their investments in Stone Canyon to pressure the company to give up its union-busting tactics. The company has seen fit to ignore them and has not changed course. The teachers of OSSTF D9 are now making it clear they want their pension funds divested from companies that engage in such anti-union activities.

The other motion encourages bargaining unit branches – every public high school in Windsor and Essex County – to financially support the striking salt workers by collecting donations.

Teachers in Windsor-Essex are uniting with the salt workers in action -- showing what values they uphold and which they don't. Their stands are very much appreciated by the workers on the line, many of whose family members are either students or teachers.

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This article was published in

Number 29 - May 29, 2023

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2023/Articles/WO10292.HTM

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