Essex County library strike stalemate continues

More than 200 CUPE 2974 members and their supporters attended Essex County council Wednesday, calling for a resolution to a four-month strike.

The strike has been ongoing since June 25, with sick time remaining a hurdle in negotiations.

Lori Wightman, a union spokeswoman,brought forward a petition asking the council to reverse its directive to the library board to reduce sick time. She also wants the Essex County Library Board to go to third-party insurance to cover long-term absences.

"I want the library board and the members of the library board who are on council to stand up and be autonomous," she said. "I want these politicians to do the job they were elected [to do], which is represent the people."

But the library board's position hasn't changed, said Richard Meloche, the library board chair. He said the directive continues to be: "stay the course."

"We've made some generous offers to the CUPE negotiating team," he said. "They don't think that's good enough at this point in time, we're hoping they have a change of heart."

Essex County saved between $640,000 and $680,000 while library workers have been striking. County council will decide during budget deliberations whether to refund that money to the individual municipalities.