Union blockades salt mine in defiance of court

The union representing nearly 400 striking salt-mine employees in Goderich says the blockade they’ve erected to stop replacement workers from entering will stay until a deal is reached. “We’re here now. This is it for the duration,” Gary Lynch of Unifor Local 16-0 said Thursday, just 12 hours after the blockade — made of piled-up wooden pallets — was erected on the roadway into the Compass Minerals mine. The blockade defies a court order that limits holding up vehicles to just a few minutes. Lynch said OPP officers have been to the scene since it was erected.

A major irritant for the union occurred last Saturday when Lynch said a mine manager drove through the picket line, refusing to be held up by pickets. The strike is now in Week 10.

“He blew right through. He wouldn’t do his four-minute (wait),” Lynch said.

The blockade effectively trapped about 25 to 30 replacement workers and some Compass Minerals managers in the plant Wednesday, Lynch said. He said another busload of replacement workers waited for six hours at the blockade but eventually left.

The 370 workers have been off the job since April 27. Unifor alleges the company has been flying in replacement workers from New Brunswick to break the strike while demanding concessions that include mandatory overtime, reduced benefits, and a weakening of contracting-out provisions. In a letter to the community on June 28, Compass Minerals said it has used contractors to produce salt to fill long-term orders, and had little choice to do so in a competitive market. Thursday afternoon, Unifor’s national president, Jerry Dias, was in Goderich after discussions with the union’s lawyers. Dias says they are pushing to get Compass Minerals’ attention, and are prepared to get back to the bargaining table.