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They call it "the most beautiful city in Canada," but the signs of an ugly labor dispute are seemingly everywhere.
You can see the signs on sun-bleached sunny lawns baking under the July sun, in the windows of Victorian homes lining the scenic streets of Goderich, Ontario, even swaying in the breeze in front of the farms from the path in the city.
They show solidarity with striking miners and their union, Local Unifor 16-0
"It's not a money issue", we read.
"The City Needs Money"
Grbad panels like these sprang up in front of Goderich's homes and windows. The mine is the largest employer in the city and a large part of the community's businesses depend on the money miners make. (Colin Butler / CBC News)
With the exception of former pay and union leader Harold Leddy, this message could not be further from the truth for the townspeople
"The City needs money, "he said." It's the only big Goderich industry right now and these guys are spending a lot of money, they're earning a lot of money. " , probably over $ 100,000 right now. "
" I think the city is behind them. Business people in the city are very slow and these people are spending money and the city needs money … There is nothing else in the city. who pays like that. "
The Salt Mine dates back to 1866
The Goderich Salt Mine, seen from a park overlooking Lake Huron, is the largest in the world.The mine began by accident in 1866, when A prospector in search of oil discovered a former deposit of mbadive salt. (Colin Butler / CBC News)
Leddy has spent his entire life in Goderich.As many men who are born and raised here in the last century and a half, Leddy harvested salt from sprawling tunnels under the sparkling blue waters of Lake Huron
"I spent 13 years there and they were all from good years. "From 1965 to 1975, Leddy quit work five times, but the union leader noticed that at the time, even when the miners had left work in a wildcat. still spoke to the owner.
"We negotiated, even though it was difficult to negotiate with Domtar at at the time, that's how it happened, "he said. "They were good, they were all local guys who ran the place at the time."
Discussions to resume
Unionized workers gather together along a narrow band path leading to the Goderich Salt Mine. The striking workers had to dismantle their recent blockade after an Ontario court ordered them to stop. (Colin Butler / CBC News)
Both parties will return to the bargaining table Thursday after 11 weeks of what appears to be the most bitter labor dispute in the city's collective memory.
This follows accusations on both sides of lies and dirty tricks, and neither Unifor, the union representing the striking miners, nor Compbad Minerals, the American company owning the mine, seems to want to back down for the first time. moment.
The union had stated that it would not bargain until the company stopped using replacement workers who, according to the union, had been trying to mow their canoe picket since striking miners began to block the entrance to the mine last week.
In response, Compbad Minerals had stated that it would also waive the talks until Unifor agreed to allow its replacement workers to cross the picket lines.
On Monday, a judge went to both camps and on Tuesday it was announced that the union and the company would set aside their grudges for the time being.
Mine belongs to an American company
The Union Flags float in the breeze of Lake Huron as a picket of workers outside the Goderich Salt Mine which is at edge of the water.
All this reminds many things to Leddy, who sits on a park bench at the top of a cliff overlooking the mine and where strikers puncture the narrow strip of land that connects it to the shore.
As the old timer sits and reflects, it becomes clear that some things have not changed since it was there over 40 years ago. For the workers, the fight is as personal now as it was then.
What is different now, is that the company that owns the mine, Compbad Minerals, is based in the United States and, unlike Domtar, the people who run it will never get from their neighbors because They are not local. .
"They are huge, they do not really care if they lose money here," he said. "They'll do it elsewhere, it's as simple as that."
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