PEIAs Charlottetown water and sewer workers enter their seventh week on strike, their union has filed a motion for an injunction against the City of Charlottetown and a senior city official.‘It seems to have escalated…the police were watching us at all times,’ says union repThinh Nguyen · CBC News · Posted: Sep 09, 2025 2:27 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoAround 10 people picketed on the sidewalk in a residential neighbourhood at the end of August, while a private company was doing a job that striking workers said they would normally be doing. (Tony Davis/CBC)As Charlottetown water and sewer workers enter their seventh week on strike, their union has filed a motion for an injunction against the City of Charlottetown and a senior city official.The motion, filed Tuesday in the Prince Edward Island Supreme Court, seeks an order to stop the city and the official from publishing what CUPE Local 830 describes as “defamatory or harassing” communications, and from “intimidating” or “unlawfully interfering” with union members on the picket line.In the motion, the union claims the actions violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A hearing on the injunction motion is scheduled for Thursday in P.E.I. Supreme Court.”I’ve been in the labour movement for 30 years and involved in a few strikes. I’ve never had where we’ve had to take an injunction. Typically, the injunctions sort of come our way. So it is pretty unique,” Sandy Harding, regional director for CUPE in the Maritimes, told CBC News Tuesday.”I don’t think the council can ignore this, or the mayor can ignore this anymore. They do have a role to play in bargaining with their employees. They do set the mandate, and I think it’s time that they do something,” she said.The legal action comes a month and a half into the strike. About 30 water and sewer utility workers walked off the job July 29 after more than two and a half years without a contract. The main issues, according to the union, are job security, seniority and wages.CBC News reached out to the City of Charlottetown for comment on Tuesday’s developments, but has not yet received an official response.Filing says police being used to apply pressureThe injunction motion includes a number of claims, including that the city and the official engaged in intimidation tactics and interfered with lawful picketing.Harding said workers have felt intimidated since the strike began, alleging the city has been using police to pressure strikers.’I’ve been in the labour movement for 30 years and involved in a few strikes. I’ve never had where we’ve had to take an injunction,’ says Sandy Harding, regional director for CUPE in the Maritimes. (Jacques Poitras)Harding said there was a heavy police presence early on in the strike, and over time, she said police began making demands about where and how workers could picket, raising concerns about things like the amount of noise strikers were making.”It seems to have escalated where, you know, the police were watching us at all times,” she said. “Enough was enough.”Harding also said the city’s lawyer tried to prevent workers from picketing outside Charlottetown’s wastewater treatment plant. An email included as an exhibit in the motion has the lawyer saying that “the picketers must not be on the plant property which… extends to the roadway.””We, in fact, are allowed to do that, you know,” said Harding. “When we asked [the city’s lawyer] to cite what laws she was using, [we] never heard back.” There were also false accusations made against union members, Harding said.In one affidavit filed with the court, a worker said a police officer contacted them after the senior city official named in the injunction motion reported that they were harassing a private contractor hired to perform struck work. That’s the term for work that is usually done by union members when they are not on strike.The worker said the claim was false and caused significant emotional distress, leading them to consider quitting their job.Negotiations stalledHarding said the situation at the bargaining table has gotten “much worse.”She said the union has been emailing the city’s negotiating team twice a day since the strike began, but has not received a response in more than a week.”You’re this long into a strike, and now you’re just not even responding to the two emails a day. It’s pretty disrespectful, and it seems like there’s no path forward where they want to come to the table and negotiate a fair contract for their workers,” she said.Nearly a month into their strike, Charlottetown water and sewer workers say no progress madeCharlottetown water and sewer workers say talks with the city on a new contract have stalled. They’ve been on strike since the end of July, demanding better wages and job security. As CBC’s Connor Lamont reports, union reps say city officials are ignoring their job action, and it’s not clear when a deal will be made. She added that even when the strike ends, returning to work could be difficult for long-serving employees who feel disrespected.”It’s going to be really difficult in those workplaces for a very long time.” The union is holding another town hall meeting Wednesday evening in Charlottetown to update the public on the ongoing strike.With files from Raphael Caron
Union accuses Charlottetown of intimidation, picket interference in water and sewer strike
