Dear Sisters and Brothers:
Teamsters members working at Handlex will be in a legal strike position at 20:00 on Tuesday, February 15, in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
We encourage all IAMAW members to support these Handlex workers as much as possible throughout their strike.
However, we must remind you that IAMAW members in the three above-mentioned stations are currently working under a collective agreement and, as such, must comply with the terms and conditions of that agreement.
If you are assigned additional duties that you would not normally do, you are not in a position to refuse, unless you consider it unsafe to carry out these duties.
In the case of a dispute with your employer, you are directed to follow the principle of “work now, grieve later,” provided that you are trained and qualified to do the job that you have been directed to do.
If you are faced with crossing a picket line, you must do so if this can be done safely. If you feel that you cannot cross safely, you must contact your manager, who is responsible for making arrangements to get you to your work location in a safe manner.
REMEMBER: Respect is a two-way street. It’s the Teamsters members at Handlex today, but it could be IAMAW members tomorrow!
In solidarity,
Chuck Atkinson
President and Directing General Chairperson
CA:mb
