Trash talks on in Toronto, Windsor strikes

TORONTO, July 23 (UPI) -- Labor contract talks were under way in the Ontario cities of Toronto and Windsor Thursday as garbage worker strikes stretched on.

In Windsor, after 99 days with no garbage pick-up, the city and two locals of the Canadian Union of Public Employees reached a tentative deal late Wednesday, which workers will vote on Friday, the Windsor Star reported.

A CUPE spokesman said neither local president supported the deal, but agreed to allow a ratification vote, the Star said.

In Toronto, which has had no garbage service since June 21, a city councilor with past union ties annoyed CUPE officials by staging his own private garbage collection in a northwestern part of the city, the Toronto Sun reported.

Councilor Giorgio Mammoliti led a group of volunteers in collecting trash bags and tossing them into a truck paid for by a community group. He was once president of a CUPE local that represents public housing employees, and drew criticism from current union leaders.

"I think that it was somewhat disingenuous that the councilor would be strike-breaking and scabbing during a labor disruption," Mark Ferguson, president of the local that represents the garbage collectors, told the Sun.