Getting ready in Toronto

CEIU members at the Scarborough Town Centre are getting ready for strike action in a direct way by working closely with striking PSAC members at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). When CRA picket lines went up on September 15, CEIU was ready.

Striking members at CRA were allowing one person through the picket line every 20 minutes and CEIU members, along with those from the National Health and Welfare Union (NHWU), ensured that the striker’s protocol was respected. The entire morning passed with only a handful of employees gaining entrance to the building. CEIU members waited patiently until 2:00 p.m. when management announced that they could go home. This was not the end of the support that CEIU offered, however.

It became clear that management’s priority was to get passport staff into the workplace. By sending home the large number of CEIU and NHWU members, the employer believed that moving passport workers through the line would be made much easier. It would have been, but CEIU members did not abandon the CRA strikers and the passport workers. Instead of simply taking the rest of the day off, CEIU members actively joined the CRA picket lines. Getting the passport staff into the workplace suddenly became harder, rather than easier, for management. With no other cards to play, the employer finally relented and sent the passport workers home as well.

The following day, CEIU members felt upbeat about their action. According to Local President Ian Shaw, most comments from members were along the lines of “This is the way we have to do it if we’re going to win.”

The scene at the Scarborough Town Center

Discussion on joining the CRA picket line after being told by management to go home