Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:01:0
AHN Staff
Toronto, Ontario (AHN) - With chances of finding a solution to Toronto city's worker strike bleak, some employees who joined the industrial walk off are changing their minds and want to return to their post.
According to Toronto City spokeswoman Patricia Trott, the number of unionized worker who applied to cross the picket line doubled to 248 on Monday from 130 last week.
However, a spokesman of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 79 belittled the number of picket line crossers. Robert Lamoureux said, quoted by the Globe and Mail, "Our lines have been very strong and we are happy with the participation rate."
A number of the 19 newly opened temporary garbage dump sites had minor altercations such as picket line participants preventing residents from throwing their trash, to area residents heckling garbage throwers like what happened at the interim dump site in Christie Pits.
In a briefing on Tuesday, City Manager Joe Pennachetti appealed to residents near temporary dumpsites to respect their neighbors and permit them to dispose their trash.
When the 24,000 city workers made up mostly of garbage collectors and daycare staff started their strike on June 22, Toronto officials expressed confidence the problem would be solved "fairly soon." With the city and the unions refusing to budge their position, there were no planned negotiations or meetings Tuesday and Wednesday, prompting Pennachetti to admit, "Literally we have no idea when this strike will end."
Aside from the mounds of trash littering Toronto, which had caused the city to issue almost 200 illegal dumping fines with a minimum penalty of $380 and thousands of warnings, another city service affected by the ongoing strike are the temporary shelters. The lack of staff to cook meals has led the shelter management to issue instead lunch and dinner vouchers for temporary residents who could not secure their own food.
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