WINNIPEG -- After a nearly three-month-long lockout, settlement workers at Welcome Place are returning to work. CUPE, the union representing the employees at Welcome Place, announced the end to the lockout on Wednesday. “We are disappointed that this employer chose to lock out its own staff in the middle of the pandemic,” Vivienne Ho, President of CUPE Local 2348, said in a statement. “Our members are relieved that they can return to helping refugees and newcomers settle in Manitoba." The lockout started in April, when Welcome Place – also known as the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council (MIIC) – locked out 23 unionized settlement workers.