Picket lines expected ahead of CNE

Picket lines are expected at city-owned Exhibition Place after its board locked out a union less than a month before the start of the Canadian National Exhibition.

IATSE Local 58, representing skilled workers who provide technical and staging expertise for events in Exhibition Place venues including BMO Field and the Enercare Centre, said the site’s board of governors locked them out as of Friday.

The move, shortly after the Honda Indy, follows “months of negotiations” for a new collective agreement, Local 58 president Justin Antheunis said in a news release. But, he added, “it was clear from the outset of talks that the board of governors did not want to reach an agreement,” after a long, mostly cordial relationship.

“Led by Mayor (John) Tory, however, the city risks ruining the CNE by locking us out of Exhibition Place,” said Antheunis.

“In fact, the safety of all events at Exhibition Place will be compromised by companies bringing in less skilled workers to set up and supervise events,” the release states. “The plan is being driven by the Mayor’s office, to the benefit of the major corporations, such as Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, that mount events at venues on Exhibition Place.”

The board asked the union to not set up picket lines until after the Ex, which runs Aug. 17 to Sept. 3, Local 58 said, but the lines will go up as soon IATSE receives official notice of the lockout.

Asked Thursday about the possibility of a lockout or strike at Exhibition Place, Tory told reporters, “The Ex is not in any way in jeopardy.”

He said he has confidence in the board, a mix of city councillors and citizen appointees, to handle contract negotiations in the city’s best interests.

“Exhibition Place is a city asset,” Tory said, “It has to run on a financially sound and modern basis ... a more modern 2018 kind of relationship with the people who do the valuable work for us at Exhibition Place.”