UPDATE: Michael Barrett responded to our request for comment with the following statement:
“What we’re campaigning for is a fair wage that keeps us up with the cost of living.”
That’s Jeff Whitteker, the President of the local chapter of the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE).
Members of Whitteker’s union have been joining workers from the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) in striking.
More than 100 demonstrators picketed outside the Prescott Coast Guard base Thursday morning.
Whitteker says the amount of support they’ve received from residents feels great.
“We’re standing together in solidarity, because we all want the same thing,” he says. “We want to keep up with the cost of living, and we hope that the public supports us, because we’re sending the message Canada-wide.”
Whitteker is urging residents who support the workers to contact their local MP. We’ve reached out to Michael Barrett, the MP for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, for comment.