It was a show of union strength and a boost for morale on the picket line outside Family and Children's Services of Guelph and Wellington County Thursday afternoon.
CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn and Guelph and District Labour Council President Janice Folk-Dawson joined members of CUPE 4325 outside the head office on Eramosa Road who have been on strike since Saturday.
Joining the FCS workers on the picket line were other CUPE members from around the province in a show of support.
"We're calling attention to this situation which is untenable for the people of Guelph. These workers provide an incredibly important service to this community and we have an employer that is refusing to come back to the bargaining table," Hahn said.
"At some point we have to stand up for ourselves. It's not good enough to have employers tell us 'you're just lucky to have a job. Shut your mouth and take whatever we give ya,'" Hahn said.
The striking workers' last contract ran out over a year ago. That four-year contract had two years of no wage increase and two years of increases under 3 per cent.
CUPE says the staff of senior management has increased much more than that in the same time period.
Management says they are not allowed to run deficits and are making the best offer they can with the funding made available to them.
There have been no talks between the two sides since April 4.
"There's got to be a way to resolve this, but the only way to resolve this is if they go back to the bargaining table," Hahn said.
Folk-Dawson said it is frustrating that despite several different proposals from the union, management has yet to make a counter-offer since the strike began.
"This isn't what bargaining is all about. We're at a stalemate right now and services are not going out to the community," Folks-Dawson said.
"What it takes is for this employer to come back to the table ... come back to the table and negotiate. That's what the process is about," she said.
FCS continues to provide essential services with roughly 27 non-union staff and management. It's two satellite offices, at Shelldale Centre and in Elora, remain closed.
