A striking outside city worker said he suffered serious injuries after a confrontation with a private contractor who was trying to mow grass on Kildare Road, according to a union statement and a police report.
The union member, who remains at Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital awaiting surgery Saturday, suffered a broken ankle after he fell to the ground. He also had cuts to his nose and face, said Jim Wood, president of CUPE Local 82, which represents about 400 outside city workers who have been on strike since April 15. Another 1,400 inside city workers joined the picket lines on April 18.
According to police, around 4 p.m. Friday a private contractor, who does landscaping for Windsor Regional Hospital, was asked by a hospital official to mow a city median on Kildare Road because it was very overgrown, said acting Staff Sgt. Steve Cincurak.
When the private contractor was unloading his truck, union picketers arrived. There was a confrontation, then a face-to-face argument, Cincurak said.
"Someone threw a punch, the striker fell to the ground and scraped his elbow, allegedly," Cincurak said reading from the police report from officers who arrived at the scene. "The story is conflicted."
Police filed no charges and the case is to be followed up, Cincurak said.
Wood said the hospital erred when it asked the contractor to mow the median. When strikers confront people mowing city property or picking up garbage, they are supposed to be friendly and not have an angry face, Wood said.
"Regardless of whether it was risky, you can't go around beating people up," Wood said.
City workers are on strike to preserve retirement benefits for new hires.
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