Striking Kingston commissionaires back to work without demands met

After months of striking, commissionaires are back to work at Canadian Forces Base Kingston, the Royal Military College and Fort Frontenac.

Fred Ebel, the commissionaires’ local union president, told Global Kingston the striking workers voted on a deal on Wednesday, saying: “It was time to get back to work.”

The security officers, many of whom are retired military and police officers, originally went on strike after asking for a new contract with paid sick days as well as a footwear allowance. Although commissionaires work in security posts across the country, only those working at Kingston’s military institutions went on strike in late June of this year.

Ebel said on Monday in a phone interview that, in the end, the strike didn’t end up securing any of their demands, and the commissionaires are going back to work with no changes to their contracts.

Ebel also said none of the striking workers received a raise.

Corps of Commissionaires Management, the company that employs the commissionaires, has yet to respond to Global News’ request for comment.