Several unions picket at Hamilton City Hall in solidarity with striking water workers

Unionized workers from all walks of life showed up to Hamilton City Hall Thursday in a show of solidarity for the city’s striking water workers.

Thursday marks the 23rd day that the Hamilton Ontario Water Employees Association (HOWEA) has been on the picket line, with the latest demonstration being the biggest yet.

Both the City of Hamilton and the union said they’re willing to make a deal, but so far there’s been no movement.

“They bargain with one, then tell everyone else to take the same deal, that’s what they do,” said Greg Hoath, the business manager at the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 772. “That’s not bargaining, and that’s not bargaining in good faith.”

Labour was front and centre in Hamilton Thursday.

As striking water workers took their picket line to the steps of city hall again to make their demands clear.

“The cost to settle this strike – this is the amazing part – is $300,000,” said Hoath. “It represents less than 0.01 per cent of the city’s budget.”

Since May 14, 54 workers from the HOWEA have been on strike.

“We need to make sure we’re being fair and consistent with everyone,” said Marnie Cluckie, the City of Hamilton’s city manager. “We’ve negotiated with eight other unions of our 11 unions, all at the same rate, so we need to be fair and consistent. We want to get them back to work, but we also have to respect the rest of our work force and the community at large.”

The union said this isn’t about wage patterns, it’s about the skilled work that they do.

“This is water and wastewater,” said Hoath. “Skilled operators, and skilled trades that need to be back at work. Marnie Cluckie has none of the history.”

It wasn’t just striking water workers at city hall either.

Postal workers and members from Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), two other unions entrenched in strikes of their own, came out in a show of solidarity.

Alongside them were unionized library staff, the United Steelworkers local union, and housing advocates, to name a few.

“This fight isn’t just about wages, it’s about respect, about standing up when an employers tries to replace skilled essential workers, rather than pay them fairly,” said one member of the WSIB. “At the WSIB, we are here in that fight too.”

Unionized WSIB workers said they are at risk of being replaced by American contractors.

Matthew Green, the former NDP MP, said, “you gotta ask yourself, if they’re attacking WSIB of all the departments, what does that say for the average worker who might have a claim, when they find themselves down?”

“Who’s going  to help them there, some god-damn American,” said Green.

The WSIB maintains that this isn’t the case.

“There’s some misinformation out there – we’re talking about a Canadian company in Toronto, that’s been helping the WSIB for 25 years in terms of some of our paper management, and that continues now, there haven’t been any layoffs,” said Aaron Lazarus, the vice president of communications at the WSIB.

Over 3,600 WSIB employees have been on strike since May 21, a first in the agency’s 100-year history.

WATCH MORE: Striking Hamilton water workers receive cease and desist letter from city