TORONTO Workers at a Johnson Controls plant in Canada that makes parts for Chrysler minivans are poised to go on strike at the end of Friday if contract negotiations fail, but the union said it was hopeful a deal with the company would be reached.

The main issue in the talks at the Tecumseh, Ontario, plant is job security, Dino Chiodo of the Canadian Auto Workers union Local 444 said on Wednesday.

“Our goal is to come to a good agreement and a pragmatic agreement that works for both the membership and the company,” he said. “We are still talking, trying to come to a resolve and we’re cautiously optimistic that we’ll be able to reach our goals.”

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Museum labour dispute at 59 days and counting

OTTAWA — Federal Minister of Labour Rona Ambrose says she’s willing to appoint an arbitrator to resolve the 59-day strike at the museums of War and Civilization if union members and management agree.

“Our mediator has been working with the parties since before the strike began,” Ambrose said Tuesday in response to Question Period comments from Liberal Heritage critic Pablo Rodriguez that the government was doing little to resolve the strike.

“I stand ready to appoint an arbitrator,” Ambrose said, “but, unfortunately, at this time, neither of the parties agree to that.”

Ambrose’s statements came less than a week after the labour dispute eclipsed the duration of last winter’s 53-day OC Transpo strike.

John Gordon, National President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents the striking museum employees, said the union had not been approached about arbitration. He said a membership meeting would be held today to discuss Ambrose’s offer.

“We will advise the minister of our position on it tomorrow,” Gordon said, adding he could not anticipate how the union members would react.

A spokesperson for the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation, which operates the two museums, would not comment on either Ambrose’s offer or the negotiations.

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Commuters face scramble as weekend talks collapse, LTC workers walk out

Thousands of Londoners will be scrambling for transportation today, as the city’s first transit strike in nearly 30 years begins.

Last-ditch talks to avert a bus strike broke down yesterday morning and no new talks are scheduled.

Management and the union blamed each other for the strike.

At two hastily-called news conferences yesterday, a visibly frustrated Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best said the London Transit Commission (LTC) offer was “more than fair,” at a time when London has Canada’s second-highest jobless rate.

Later, the LTC released documents showing it had offered the union a 9% increase during three years, including an 8.3% wage hike and improved dental and disability benefits and working conditions.

The LTC said the union demanded 20% in wages and benefits during three years.

DeCicco-Best slammed the demands as irresponsible with the city still mired in a recession.

“These numbers are staggering, I have people who have trouble putting food on the table, who have trouble finding a place to live,” she said.

But in an interview, Pat Hunniford, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 741, said it was the LTC management that refused to budge.

“We made some pretty big concessions from where we started,” he said.

Hunniford said the 20% increase in wages and benefits demanded by the union was an “old” offer and the union made a verbal offer closer to 12% by the time talks broke off.

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Supervisors managed to open limited testing at two Drive-Test centres in the GTA Thursday in the face of an 11-week strike by the examiners.

At the Brampton test centre, few applicants made it through the locked front door manned by security guards. Others left in frustration as a union picket line delayed cars entering the parking lot for up to 10 minutes.

Some people showed up hoping to be tested, unaware that only selected student truck drivers would get road tests.

When Drive-Test announced Wednesday some centres would reopen, managing director Paul Dalglish had said non-commercial drivers would be able to take their written tests, and out-of-province and international licence holders would be able to exchange them. A Drive-Test recording Thursday warned of long waits and no guarantees of service.

“There are limited resources and we need to get up and running first,” he said.

Vik Gandhi did manage to get through.

He had been waiting for four months since moving to Canada from New Jersey to replace his expired American drivers’ licence with an Ontario one.

His 20-minute car commute to work in Mississauga had turned into a journey of more than two hours involving three connections each way, he said.

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Move suggests it plans to reopen Sudbury, Ont., smelter

Nickel miner Vale Inco Ltd. is training replacement workers so it can re-open a smelter that has been idle since workers went on strike in July.

The company is training non-striking workers to run the Copper Cliff smelter complex near Sudbury, Ont. But so far, the company remains coy on whether or not it intends to actually reopen the facility.

“Could it be interpreted that we are getting ready to start? Yes,” Vale Inco spokesman Steve Ball said. “Have we made the decision to do so? No, not at this time.”

A total of 3,500 Vale Inco workers — at Vale Inco operations in Sudbury, Port Colborne, Ont., and Voisey’s Bay, N.L. — are on strike. They are represented by Local 6500 of the United Steelworkers union, which argues that getting untrained workers to operate the smelter, which turns unprocessed ore into usable metal, would pose a hazard to workers and the community.

The ongoing labour dispute centres on Vale’s proposal to reduce a bonus tied to the price of nickel. Workers also oppose a plan by the company to exempt new employees from its defined-benefit pension plan, which guarantees employees a reliable, steady income after retirement.

The company is proposing to provide them with a defined-contribution plan, which bases retirement benefits on investment returns.

The strike is the first job action at the company since Vale bought Inco’s assets for $19 billion US in 2006.

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Legislated to work, union members will ‘certainly not be eager’ to do overtime to properly staff Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics may yet have to cope without the services of unionized ambulance drivers at many Games venues, despite emergency legislation ending the paramedics’ seven-month strike against the government.

“I don’t know whether the Olympics are at risk, but certainly the involvement of paramedics may be at risk,” CUPE Local 873 president John Strohmaier declared yesterday.

A lot of union members, including himself, “will certainly not be eager” to volunteer for the overtime shifts required to staff large public events such as the Olympics, Mr. Strohmaier said.

“It’s a personal decision, and I can’t speak for what people may do, but I know I will not be volunteering to provide that work at the Olympics. And that feeling is widespread among our members.”

As well, paramedics will continue to refuse to wear their official uniforms and will change the unauthorized signs on their vehicles from “On Strike” to “Unstrike,” he added.

“We’re a pretty creative bunch. We are not going to sit back and quietly accept the legislation. This dispute is far from over.”

Although they have been on strike since April 1, paramedics have remained on the job, relying on irritation and inconvenience to put pressure on the government.

Officials estimate that as many as 100 paramedics a day will be needed during peak times at Games venues, with another 70 required to make up for their absence from regular Lower Mainland duties.

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Picketing paramedics disrupted a planned Olympic security exercise Thursday morning at Vancouver’s rail yard.

The event was part of the final of three exercises aimed at preparing first responders for possible emergency scenarios during February’s Olympic Games.

B.C. Ambulance Paramedics, who have been on strike since April and who could soon be forced back to work, picketed outside the Via rail yard and St. Paul’s Hospital during the mock rail disaster.

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Despite lack of agreement with union, museums not expecting disruptions

Visitors and war veterans coming to the Canadian War Museum next week for Remembrance Day should not experience any problems despite a strike by workers that is in its seventh week, museum officials said Thursday.

About 400 employees from the Canadian War Museum and the Canadian Museum of Civilization have been on the picket line since Sept. 21. The museums have remained open, but striking workers had been delaying visitors entering the museums and there were concerns of more disruptions to visitors on Remembrance Day. But access to the museums is expected to run as smoothly as possible.

“The only difference you will see this year is that we will not have a program of public lectures at the museums (due to the strike),” said Chantal Schryer, vice-president of public affairs for the museums.

She said it’s a very special day for Canadians. “It’s a day to remember the courage and sacrifices of veterans and we know that all Canadians take this seriously, including our colleagues on the picket line.”

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On Sunday, November 8, striking teaching and research assistants at McMaster university will meet, discuss and vote on the employer’s ‘final’ offer, an offer that has not changed since early August, and one that does not address the core strike issues.

“We’ve moved several times on our proposals, but McMaster won’t meet us half way,” said Rebecca Strung, CUPE 3906 spokesperson. “Management is even threatening to backtrack and take their inferior offer off the table, even though our members have told us the offer is unacceptable. We will remain united and vote down their ‘final’ offer to show solidarity and fight for a fair and improved offer.”

CUPE 3906 is seeking a deal that will improve learning and working conditions at McMaster university, addressing issues like increased class sizes/workload for TAs and RAs, access for upper-year students for TA and RA work, benefits maintenance and protection from tuition increases that directly impact the quality and accessibility of higher education at McMaster.

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Sides continue to negotiate with no deadline set

Nipissing University faculty have given their association a 95.8% strike mandate.

The vote was last week after months of bargaining between the university and the Nipissing University Faculty Association.

NUFA represents all 178 of the university’s full-time professors, whose contract expired April 30.

NUFA is bargaining for an academic workload that ensures student-centred teaching and research is maintained and a working environment conducive to recruiting and retaining qualified faculty.

The professors also want to ensure full-time positions are maintained.

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