The strike continues at Windsor Salt after mine workers reject tentative deal.
Members were voting at the Caboto Club after hearing details of the tentative deal that was reached last Thursday between the company and its employees, represented by Unifor Local 1959 and 240.
Voting got underway at 9:00 a.m. by mine workers, and were to be followed by two other groups including fine salt and clerical workers.
"The tentative agreement was rejected due to concerns surrounding daily distribution of work among other issues. Unifor will continue to work to come to a resolution on behalf of our members," said Unifor in an emailed statement to AM800 News. "The bargaining committees from Local 240 and the outstanding Local 1959 unit opted to pause the ratification vote in solidarity with the Local 1959 mine group."
Unifor Local 240 President Jodi Nesbitt, who represents the clerical workers, says her members have not seen the deal and they are pausing the ratification meetings.
She says the other groups will still vote on the proposed deal at another time.
"We just need to look at what does that look like because we collective bargain together as a master bargaining committee and so we just need to look at what does that entail and how do we move forward. So it's a pause."
She says she felt confident going into the vote but each workplace has unique situations.
"From a collective perspective and making the improvements to the collective agreement from the monetary, I guess you'd say, we were all in line with that and so I felt confident in that. But every workplace has their specific issues and only the members that are voting on it can understand the magnitude of what that looks like."
She says the strike continues and it's back to the picket line.
"The people that were scheduled to be at the line will definitely be going back. Everybody has been communicated that it's picket duties as usual."
Nesbitt says they do not have a timeline as to when the voting will continue.
The strike by nearly 250 workers started February 17.