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July 17, 2018
Greetings members and friends,
Thank you for the support you have shown the Goderich salt miners over these past few weeks. We are happy to announce that the members of Local 16-O ratified a new collective agreement on Monday, July 17 and will return to work tomorrow.
When the calls went out in their time of need, we were confident that Unifor members would step up, but could not have predicted the complete outpouring of support both from within and outside of our union.
To Unifor members who showed up, sent donations, called and emailed the company, your activism and solidarity is what keeps our union strong. We have shown this company, and all those who were watching, that workers united will never be defeated.
To every worker from across Canada and some from the United States who showed your solidarity, we will remember your actions and return them in kind. We will defend your rights as you defended ours.
To the community of Goderich, thank you for being the family that these workers could rely on in their time of need, for showing up at the picket line day after day, putting up lawn signs and for your unwavering support.
This strike was difficult. Workers faced dangerous concessions and the morale-breaking use of scab labour, a tactic that was designed to tell them that they were disposable. Your combined actions sent a different message, that they are respected, supported and that the labour movement stands united with them.
We marched out those scabs on July 5 and no more entered that mine. We forced the company back to the table and sent a message that Unifor will not tolerate their dirty tactics. The use of scab labour in strikes and lockouts is despicable. The fact that federal and various provincial and territorial laws still condone it speaks volumes about the priorities of government. Only through our collective action can we win.
We must now take what we have learned in Goderich to help all union members who are still on the picket lines, either on strike or locked-out, from coast to coast to coast.
In solidarity,
JERRY DIAS NAUREEN RIZVI
National President Ontario Regional Director
