Bradford Library workers strike ends, case goes to arbitration
After ten weeks of strike action, library workers in Bradford West Gwillimbury will be returning to work.
Issuing its decision on Friday, the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) has approved the request of the library to send the ongoing dispute to arbitration.
- Download the CTV News app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates sent to your email inbox
"It's unjust that after 71 days of striking to achieve fair wages, Library workers are being forced to return to work without a collective agreement," said Katherine Grzejszczak, president CUPE 905. "Again and again, the mostly female workers' demands for respect, $1.35 and fairness have been ignored by those in power. First by the Library CEO at the bargaining table, then by Mayor Leduc and the majority of Council who upheld the CEO's decisions, and now by the Labour Board."
The arbitration process will appoint a neutral third party to assess the issues between CUPE 905 and the library.
"During the waiting period, employees will return to work, and our Library will reopen for in-person services as soon as possible," said Matthew Corbett, CEO of the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library.
A hearing date can be scheduled after a neutral third party is selected.
The union added that it is reviewing its "legal recourse" over the decision to end the strike.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Monster storm in North Atlantic stretches cloud from Atlantic Canada to Portugal
A large low-pressure system centred about 750 kilometres to the northeast of Newfoundland is causing clouds to stretch all the way to Portugal.
'Trudeau can end it all': Conservative carbon tax filibuster stretches into second day
With no signs either side is ready to retreat, the marathon voting session in the House of Commons has stretched into its second day, after MPs stayed up all night rejecting Conservative attempts to defeat government spending plans over the Liberals' refusal to scrap the carbon tax.
Shohei Ohtani watch kicks into higher gear in Toronto as Blue Jays fans track private plane
Shohei Ohtani watch in Toronto has kicked into another gear.
Canadian alleges discrimination, sues federal government in effort to get grandchildren out of Gaza
A Palestinian-Canadian is suing the federal government in an effort to get his four grandchildren out of Gaza. Mohammed Nofal, 74, is alleging Global Affairs Canada and immigration officials created a discriminatory policy that denied his family help in evacuating a war zone in the days following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
'We're inside the patient, looking directly at the tumour': Gaming experience aids surgery
An Ontario teen is among the first patients in the country to have a rare type of cancer surgically removed by doctors who trained using a virtual reality system that allows them to 'walk' inside a patient's body.
'Pseudoscience': Alberta's health minister under fire for naturopathic medicine meeting
Alberta's health minister is facing pushback after taking a meeting focused on naturopathic medicine's role in the province's primary care.
2 Ontario men charged after allegedly producing recruitment videos for listed terrorist entity
Two men from Ontario have been arrested on charges of terrorism after allegedly producing recruitment videos for a listed terrorist organization and circulating far-right manifestos online, police say.
1 in 9 Canadian adults have had long-term symptoms from COVID infection: StatCan
About one in nine Canadian adults have had long-term symptoms from COVID-19 infection, according to a Statistics Canada report issued Friday.
Pompeii archaeologists uncover bakery that doubled as a prison
An ancient bakery operated by slaves has been discovered in the ruins of Pompeii, the Pompeii Archaeological Park said in a statement released Friday.