Supporters of striking Region of Queens workers blasted elected councillors on Tuesday, demanding that they show some leadership in the dispute.
They want the mayor and councillors to tell the region’s negotiators to return to the bargaining table and settle the strike.
Thirty-eight members of Local 1928 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have been on the picket line since Thursday. The union says they are some of the lowest-paid municipal workers in Atlantic Canada.
The region does not dispute that, but says it’s been trying to address those inequities in contract negotiations that have been going on for about a year.
Family and friends of the strikers told councillors at their regular meeting on Tuesday that they were ashamed of how the region has treated the workers. Elected officials do not get involved directly with labour negotiations, but can set the tone for the region’s negotiators.
