Remembering Newell Hastings
Lambton CUPE workers join province wide walkout
November 4, 2022
About 300 CUPE workers marched in front of Sarnia Lambton MPP Bob Bailey’s office Friday morning as part of a province wide now illegal walkout.
The province passed back to work legislation, using the notwithstanding clause of the Charter of Rights and Freedom to disregard their right to strike.
The legislation imposes a four year contract with a maximum wage increase of 2.5 per cent. CUPE workers are custodians, educational assistants and secretaries and are the lowest paid education workers in the province with some earning $39,000 a year.
Schools in Lambton closed because of the walk out. It is unclear how long the work action will last.
Workers face fines of $4,000 a day during the walkout – the union faces a $500,000 fine.
The union has said it will pay the penalty.
Meantime, the government is at the Ontario Labour Board trying to get the legislation enforced and the workers back to school.
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Remembering Newell Hastings
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Heather Wright/The Independent Sunday, Newell Hasting’s service to King and Country over a century ago was remembered in a peaceful church cemetery near Watford. Hasting was born in Petrolia and his family moved to Watford around the turn of the century. He signed up to serve in the miltia with Watford’s 149th Battalion before being called up for service. He
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Front Page
St Philip’s student wins big at national fair
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The Independent Ben Harper made a splash at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Fredericton taking home a bronze medal. The Grade 8 student from St. Philip’s in Petrolia presented his climate-focused project called A Wavy Problem – Navigating the Surges of Climate Change last week and won a bronze medal in his division. The Petrolia student tested six different offshore
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