Access to Ontario salt mine blocked by striking workers

CTV London: Mine Blockade Striking workers at the Goderich Salt Mine have set up a blockade at the entrance in protest of the companies use of replacement workers. Scott Miller reports.

Some 350 striking miners and their families have had enough.

They’ve blockaded the entrance to the Goderich salt mine, not allowing replacement workers to enter.

The blockade, made up of people, trucks and wooden pallets, will remain until the company agrees to return to the bargaining table, says local union president Gary Lynch.

The blockade is peaceful, although OPP are on scene watching over the situation.

The miners have been on strike since April 27.

Unifor alleges the company has been flying in replacement workers from New Brunswick to break the strike while demanding concessions that include mandatory overtime, reduced benefits, and a weakening of contracting-out provisions.

In a letter to the community on June 28, Compass Minerals said it has used contractors to produce salt to fill long-term orders, and had little choice to do so in a competitive market.

The company also said it had modernized its production process "to reduce the ebbs and flows of production that leads to layoffs and recalls" and finding shifts that allow for continuous production.

Compass Minerals said it presented an offer on April 27 to address all outstanding issues, with wage increases and benefit improvements, to avoid a strike, but Unifor's bargaining committee "abruptly left negotiations and took their members out on strike."

"Crossing a picket line is shameful behaviour that cannot be tolerated," said Unifor national president Jerry Dias in a statement, adding "no job is worth stealing food from another worker's family."

Compass Ministers says at 549 metres under Lake Huron, the underground salt mine is the largest in the world.