Wake up Toronto - It's Strike time 2009

Toronto unionized CUPE indoor and outdoor workers are on strike as of Monday, June 22, 2009. Pickets are being setup in the early morning hours while the sunshine of the second day of summer promises more heat – just in time for the ripening of the uncollected garbage as it will surely build up.  The pictures show the pickets walking in circles at the entrance to Toronto City Hall with adjacent tents receiving workers registering for the picket lines and getting their signs.

The City of Toronto’s website (http://www.toronto.ca/labour-relations/index.htm) has this to say.

June 22, 2009 - 12:20 a.m.

The Toronto Civic Employees' Union Local 416 (CUPE) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 79 have announced that they are on strike. The locals were in a legal strike position as of 12:01 a.m. on Monday, June 22, 2009.

Residents and businesses with questions about the contingency plans may contact Access Toronto at accesstoronto@toronto.ca or 416-338-0338 / TTY 416-338-0889. Access Toronto is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Residents may call after normal business hours when call volumes may be lower.

Police, Fire, TTC and Long Term Care Homes & Services (Homes for the Aged) will not be affected by a labour disruption. In the event of a labour disruption, emergency calls for ambulance/paramedic services will continue as usual. Non-emergency and low priority calls may be affected.

The City’s water supply and sewage treatment systems will continue to function within established safety and quality standards.  

I believe the City intends to stop all parades, etc, during the strike so this may impact Pride week - today was supposed to be the raising of the Pride flag ceremony at Nathan Phillips Square at lunch time and this coming weekend are the parades. The Toronto Sun newspaper is reporting that the City is unsure if it will cancel the Pride parades at this time. I will drop by at noon to see what has developed.
Update: The strike is still on!