Despite having rejected a contract offer from XL Foods and having been locked out for the foreseeable future, unionized workers at the company’s Moose Jaw, Sask. beef plant plan to keep negotiating.

The workers, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada) Local 1400, voted down XL’s offer at a meeting Sunday night in Moose Jaw by about a two-to-one voting ratio, according to Norm Neault, president of Local 1400 in Regina.

The workers are just ending a five-month layoff XL Foods announced in April, citing a shortage of available slaughter cattle.

Shortly before the workers’ expected recall date, the union was informed last week that the layoff has been superseded by an indefinite lockout.

However, Neault said in an interview Tuesday, the union has tentatively scheduled bargaining session dates with XL officials in early and mid-October, pending agreement on dates from XL.

Furthermore, he said, although a company lockout is usually quickly followed by a union members’ strike vote, the XL workers have no plans for a strike vote. They still plan to start picketing Wednesday, however.

“We are prepared to recommence operations in Moose Jaw but we require a union contract that will allow us to be competitive in the marketplace,” XL’s co-CEO Brian Nilsson said in a company release Sept. 18.

An XL spokesman couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday. Neault said he’s heard no details from the company about availability of slaughter cattle for the plant.

Neault said the XL proposal on which members voted Sunday was not recommended to them by the union.

XL, he said, had proposed wage increases below others recently agreed to at facilities such as Cargill’s Alberta beef packing plant. As well, the company’s proposal would have reduced available annual vacation days for new employees, Neault said.

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While he would like it to end quickly, Leo Gerard fears the worst for the 11-week-old strike at Vale Inco’s Greater Sudbury operations.

“If the things that Vale has on the table, if they are really serious about, if what our guys are telling me that Vale’s behaviour has been ‘this will be settled when you learn to agree’, there will be a lot of snowstorms before it’s over,” replied Gerard to a question following a speech Monday at L au re nt i a n University.

“If it’s simply capitulization they expect, we are

going to go through a lot of snowstorms and a lot of springtimes.”

Gerard, the international president of the United Steelworkers union, was at Laurentian to give a speech called Globalization Workers’ Rights and Community. His visit was organized by Laurentian’s labour studies, political science and sociology departments. About 50 people attended.

More than 3,000 members of Local 6500 of the USW have been on strike since mid-July. No talks are scheduled.

The Greater Sudbury native also stood by the comment he made Sept. 19 that it’s time for businesses in Greater Sudbury to choose sides in the labour dispute.

“Our success is going to lead to their success,” he said. “And we are not going to fail.”

Gerard later told reporters that after he made the comment at the labour rally at the Sudbury Community Arena, hundreds of businesses came forward to ask for signs to show their support for the union.

“It’s our standard of living that keeps the Sudbury community humming,” he said. “It allows our retirees to stay in their homes instead of selling them … It’s a very simple equation.

“Ninety per cent of the wages our members make is spent in this community. It’s important that we succeed.”

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In his lecture, Gerard said he was upset to learn that a group at Laurentian is pursing a centre of excellence in occupational health and safety.

Gerard later told reporters such a centre was an idea he floated in the community at least a dozen times over the years and should involve government, labour, the three local post-secondary institutions and other partners.

“Today, I found out that there is a group … trying to organize it for themselves,” he said.

Gerard said he understands the proposed centre would not involve the two senior levels of government and would only give labour a small role.

“For the workers to play a miniscule role is unacceptable,” he said.

Last June, a research group or “cluster” of researchers was formally established at Laurentian with a goal of becoming a hub for occupational health and safety research for resource-based industries in Northern Ontario, as well as nationally and internationally. It is called the Centre for Research in Occupational Health and Safety.

In his one-hour address, Gerard said the continuing march toward globalization allows companies to relocate without any repercussions, capital to move freely between borders, and the rich to get richer.

“Twenty-five years ago, a chief executive officer made 25 times a worker’s salary,” he said. “Five years ago, it was 440 times the average worker’s salary. It’s now up to 1,000 times.

“That kind of globalization can’t be sustained.”

It is no co-incidence that summits such as last week’s G20 event in Pittsburgh, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and G8″meetings are only attended by people benefitting from the decisions being made, said Gerard.

That’s why protesters are kept a fair distance away.

Gerard said it is working people, through massive government bailouts, that ultimately pay for capitalism-gone- wild behaviour that led to scenarios such as the sub-prime mortgage fiasco in the United States and the accounting disaster that involved companies like Enron and World.com.

Gerard said a good example of where globalization is causing problems is the purchase of Inco Limited by Vale of Brazil that has led to wealth flowing out of Canada. He said that purchase should not have been allowed to happen.

“We have one of the richest ore bodies in the world here,” he said. “(A total of ) $4.2 billion of wealth was created here in 30 months and there is no real obligation to leave any of that wealth here.

“Vale is not listed on Canadian stock exchanges, but is on the New York Stock Exchange. The primary holders of that stock are German, Japanese and Brazilian banks.”

The Steelworkers president added there was no point for some countries such as Canada and the United States to attempt to fight global warming through a carbon emissions tax system unless all countries did the same. That’s because a company faced with a higher-cost operation will simply relocate to a country like China where there are no such taxes.

Yet, a Canadian steel mill emits one-quarter to one-third of the emissions of a steel milll in China, he said.

“You will get carbon leakage,” he explained. “Carbon emissions will (actually) go up … If we let the Chinese sell their steel here, all we are in fact doing is penalizing ourselves.”

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Unionized workers at XL Foods’ beef packing plant at Moose Jaw, Sask. have “solidly rejected” the latest contract offer from the company which locked them out last week.

The workers, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada) Local 1400, voted against the offer at a meeting Sunday night in Moose Jaw, according to a statement Monday on the union’s website.

The workers were just ending a five-month layoff, which XL Foods announced in April, citing a shortage of available slaughter cattle. Just prior to the workers’ expected recall date, the union was informed last week that the layoff has been superseded by an indefinite lockout.

The company’s offer to the workers, who had been without a contract since Jan. 31, had been pending for some time but the union had wanted to wait until the XL plant had reopened from its shutdown or at least issued recall notices to eligible workers.

Following the lockout notice, the union moved to organize a vote on XL’s latest offer.

Phone calls to Norm Neault, president of the UFCW Local 1400 in Regina, and to Patrick Bieleny, chief financial officer at XL Foods’ head office in Edmonton, weren’t yet returned Monday afternoon.

“We are prepared to recommence operations in Moose Jaw but we require a union contract that will allow us to be competitive in the marketplace,” XL’s co-CEO Brian Nilsson said in a company release Sept. 18.

“We regret that this lockout has to impact our other employees and suppliers and hope that they will stand by with us until we are able to continue operations in Moose Jaw.”

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McMaster and its 2,200 support workers have a tentative contract agreement. But the university is still negotiating with its 2,700 teaching assistants who have just given their bargaining team a “strong” strike mandate.

The support workers’ agreement reached Tuesday is subject to ratification by the university and members of Canadian Auto Workers Local 555, Unit 1.

Local 555 president Matt Root said workers will get details at a ratification meeting on Monday or Tuesday, and vote on the agreement immediately afterwards.

The two sides have been negotiating since April and were at loggerheads over pensions. The university wanted future hires to join a group RRSP but the union wanted to retain the existing defined benefits pension plan for all. There was also a dispute over the job evaluation system.

“This has been a tough round of negotiations,” said Root. “Given the current climate, you can’t get everything … We think we’ve come to something reasonable.”

Local 555 represents administrative and technical support staff at the university. The last contract expired June 15.

Meanwhile, teaching assistants, represented by CUPE Local 3906, held a six-day strike vote after rejecting a final offer.

Union spokesperson Derek Sahota wouldn’t release the results of the vote last night, but said it was a “strong mandate” from members.

The two sides are back at the bargaining table Sept. 30.

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SYDNEY — Community college workers in the province, including those at Marconi and Strait area campuses, have voted in favour of a strike action in an attempt to gain wage increases and improvements similar to those given to public school teachers this year.

“The biggest issue is just fairness and equity,” said Alexis Allen, president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, which represents 900 faculty and professional support staff at 13 Nova Scotia Community College campuses, including registrars, guidance councillors and college preparation advisors.

In February, public school teachers signed a two-year contract which included a 2.9 per cent annual raise and more health benefits.

Allen said community college workers want the same increases but were told they would only be given a one-year agreement of 2.9 per cent due to a lack of funding from the provincial Department of Education.

Talks entered a stalemate and in May the union applied for conciliation. A conciliator later filed a report with the Department of Labour, indicating negotiations had reached an impasse.

Workers at Nova Scotia Community Colleges have been without a contract for 13 months.
In an electronic balloting Tuesday night, 93 per cent of all faculty and support staff voted, with 92 per cent in favour of a strike.

Allen said the move to strike won’t take place this week, noting the NSTU plans to provide Education and Labour Minister Marilyn More with a required 48 hours notice in the event of a strike.
NSCC director of marketing and communications Gina Brown said a contingency plan has been developed in case of a strike.

“We have to keep in mind that no strike has been called,” she added.

Brown said NSCC officials have made an agreement with the union to not discuss the details of the contract with the media.

There are 63 unionized faculty and professional support staff at the Strait campus and approximately 750 students who attended post-secondary classes.

At Marconi Campus, 94 employees are members of the collective bargaining unit, with about 1,000 students who attend classes.

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It’s back to the boardroom for striking Erie Thames Powerlines workers.

Anne Paquette, Power Workers’ Union representative, said Erie Thames has agreed to return to negotiations as of Thursday.

“We’re being optimistic and hope we can get some kind of a deal,” Paquette said.

The drawn-out 14-week strike has centred around a 45-hour work-week for outside employees.

“It’s been the same issue for 14 weeks,” Paquette said. “We hope we can come to some sort of an agreement.”

In week 10 of the strike, workers of ERTH Corp and subsidiary companies Erie Thames Powerlines, CRU Solutions, Ecaliber and Coulter Water Meter Service, rejected the company’s final offer.

Paquette said so far morale has been high among the striking workers.

“Support from the public has been good too,” she said.

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Employees hoping to return from a five-month layoff at XL Foods’ Moose Jaw, Sask. beef packing plant have now been locked out, according to their union.

Citing a shortage of available slaughter cattle, XL had announced April 24 that it would shut down the Moose Jaw facility and lay off its 200 employees for up to five months ending Sept. 28.

However, Norm Neault, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada) Local 1400 in Regina, which represents the workers, said the union was informed last week that the layoff is now superseded by an indefinite lockout.

Unionized staff at the Moose Jaw plant, who have been without a contract since Jan. 31, were to be informed of the lockout at a union meeting Monday but had already been notified in a letter from the company, Neault said in an interview Tuesday.

The union has had an offer pending from the company but wanted to wait until XL resumed operations or at least had issued recall notices, he said.

The union would then know how many of the employees would be returning to work at the plant before holding a vote on the proposal, Neault said. “We have to make sure we’re not getting individuals voting who have no intention of coming back.”

About 125 of the 200 laid-off employees came out for Monday’s meeting, he noted.

With no back-to-work recall pending from the company, the union plans a meeting Sunday evening in Moose Jaw for members to review and vote on XL’s offer, Neault said.

XL’s five-month layoff notice in April had been served a few weeks after contract talks had stalled.

According to an April 24 release from UFCW, the two sides in early April had “reached an impasse over the employer’s proposal to force employees to work up to eight hours of mandatory overtime per week.”

A spokesman for Edmonton-based Nilsson Bros., the owner of XL Foods, wasn’t immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.

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Workers on strike, seeking fair working conditions and protections against contracting out

Ottawa/Gatineau – Workers are on strike at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the War Museum.

Represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the 420 workers are demanding the same protections that are in place for other museum workers in the Ottawa/Gatineau region. The Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC) continues to deny their demands for workplace fairness and protections against contracting out.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization and the War Museum had the highest attendance and brought in more revenue than any other museum or gallery in the National Capital Region last year. Meanwhile, workers’ salaries at the two museums are lower than all of the other federal museum workers in the Ottawa/Gatineau – in some cases 40 per cent lower.

“The mandate from our members is to close the wage gap and protect them against the threat of their jobs being contracted out,” says Maria Fitzpatrick, PSAC Vice-President for the National Capital Region. “As it stands, ticketing agents and several security guard positions, as well as cafeteria and boutique employee jobs have already been contracted out to private companies. Our workers are seeking some guarantee that they won’t lose their jobs, especially in the face of an economic recession.”

Melissa Ferland is a professional actor who works at the Museum of Civilization. As a member of the floor staff, she sees how the museum has trouble recruiting and retaining employees.

“All we are seeking is fair treatment that is equivalent to the way that other museum workers are treated in the region,” she said. “We are passionate about our work and care deeply about the reputation of the museums. All we want is a fair contract, so we can get back to our jobs and continue to support our families.”

Negotiations with the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC) began in April and talks broke down in August. The workers voted 92 per cent in favour of strike action on August 27. Sessions with a federal mediator were held on September 16, 17 and 18, during which the museums’ management demanded serious concessions and refused to address the workers’ fundamental concerns, especially in regard to salary and contracting out.

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* Maintenance shuts Thompson, Manitoba, for month

* Strikes at Sudbury, Voisey’s Bay continue

* Company plans to restart some Sudbury mining

TORONTO, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Vale (VALE5.SA) Inco has restarted its Thompson, Manitoba, nickel mining and processing operations following a one-month maintenance shutdown, a spokesman said on Monday.

The restart comes as 3,100 workers remain on strike at the company’s main nickel hub of Sudbury, Ontario, while smaller strikes continue at its Port Colborne, Ontario, operations, and the Voisey’s Bay mine in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Vale, which bought the assets when it took over Inco in 2006, has said it will restart part of its copper and precious metal mining in Sudbury using workers from other departments, but has not yet done so, said company spokesman Cory McPhee.

“We are still in the process of training in preparation for resuming partial production. That process has not yet begun nor are we committing to any definitive timeline at this point,” he said in an email.

McPhee said that no talks were scheduled.

The strikes at Sudbury and Port Colborne began on July 13, while the Voisey’s Bay strike began at the beginning of August. (Reporting by Cameron French; editing by Rob Wilson)

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Thousands of Manitoba Hydro workers could be headed for the picket lines in what could be the utility’s first strike in history.

The three unions representing some 4,600 hydro workers say a strike could happen by the end of the month.

“Oh, we’re very serious,” said Lauris Kleven, business manager with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents about 3,000 workers.

Another 1,300 workers are represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and 300 by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

Contracts between Hydro and all three unions have expired. The agreement with the IBEW expired in April.

Kleven said negotiations have reached an impasse, primarily over salaries.

“We take pride in our work and we feel that we’re deserving a fair salary increase at this point,” Kleven said.

Other Crown workers given more
He said Hydro’s current wage offer isn’t fair when compared to other Crown corporations. The utility is offering a two per cent increase in the first year and essentially no increase in the second year, Kleven said.

In comparison, Manitoba Public Insurance just settled a four-year year deal with its workers that will pay a 2.9 per cent increase in each of those years, Kleven said.

A Hydro spokesperson said the utility is still hoping to resolve the dispute and avoid a strike, which would include electrical workers, truck drivers, transmission techs, clerical and customer service workers.

In an e-mail to CBC News, Glenn Schneider of Hydro said the following:

Negotiations with Hydro unions are continuing and Hydro is not prepared to discuss details
Strikes are always a possibility when negotiating a new contract
We are making plans to do what we can to maintain service if a strike were to occur
We continue to talk and expect to be able to reach an agreement
Ballots have been mailed to the workers this week, asking them to choose to accept the utility’s current offer or provide the unions with a strike mandate.

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