Hamilton unions rally in support of National Steel Car strike

Unions in Hamilton held a rally to support National Steel Car workers who have been on strike for the past week.

The head of the Hamilton labour council is saying inflation could drive many more workers onto the picket line.

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Frank Crowder, president of the Steelworkers Local Union says inflation makes it tough to get by for the 1,400 workers on strike for higher pay.

“The world’s gotta know that our children, my children, they will never even be able to afford a home because of the way the economy’s going. I was able to buy a home as a gen-xer but I got lucky. My kids will never have that and until we raise wages and treat workers more fairly and bring back a strong middle class, this just won’t happen,” Crowder said.

The union says National Steel Car is offering a pay increase of ten per cent over three years. Inflation is spiked at 8.1 per cent last year and still around 4 per cent this year.

The union says their starting point was to ask for a pay increase of 7 per cent a year for three years but says the company wouldn’t negotiate.

“We’re not asking for doubling our wages we’re asking at least to meet what inflation has done,” Crowder said.

With National Steel Car on strike and other workers facing the same inflation pressures, the head of the Hamilton Labour Council, Anthony Marco says this could be a hot year for labour turmoil.

“With a lot of collective agreements running out post-pandemic and with the inflation that’s happened you’re going to see, we could be going into strike season at this point and there’s going to be a lot of locals in all different work sectors and job sectors that are entertaining an idea of a strike because I don’t think employers are ready to give the wage increases that are necessary,” Marco said.

CHCH News contacted National Steel Car but haven’t heard back. People at the labour rally also suggested other measures to ease inflation, like government rent controls or restrictions on grocery store profits, but higher wages are key.

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