More than 70 editorial, sales, production and office workers at Toronto’s Metro daily newspaper are preparing for a potential strike or lockout as their union and employer enter two final days of contract talks today leading to a 12.01 a.m. deadline this Friday.

The workers, whose first contract expired on March 5, are represented by Local 87-M of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, the country’s biggest media union.

A key issue in the negotiations is the union’s demand that the new contract include a traditional wage grid that provides pay increases to reflect advancements in job experience.

The employer for Toronto’s highest-circulation daily newspaper has thus far refused to bargain such a grid. Its latest offer would instead effectively cut wages through pay freezes for most workers in 2011 and 2012 and a demand that employees shoulder 15 per cent of the cost of their benefits, which are currently 100 per cent employer-paid.

“It’s outrageous that the company is effectively demanding pay cuts at a time when it is rolling in money,” said union negotiator Mike Sullivan, pointing to first-quarter results that show Metro’s already soaring revenue jumped another 25 per cent in the first three months of this year.

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The CAW Local 599 for the Kidd Creek Metallurgical Site is angry and ready to fight.

The union received discouraging news following a meeting with representatives from Xstrata Copper to discuss terms for a closure agreement.

which included a 10-minute break, and it was obvious that local management did not come ready to negotiate.

“They refused to deal with any of the issues brought forward.”

Along with “respect and dignity,” the union is asking for two weeks per year of service in severance pay.

Xstrata is only offering $1,000 per year of service.

“We weren’t offered benefits, there has been no improvement on our early retirement packages, and in some cases, seniority isn’t even taken into account,” he said.

Lefebvre explained that some employees with 30 years experience are being laid off, while those with five or six years are staying.

“We’re very disappointed in what came out of the meeting,” said bargaining committee chairman Ben Lefebvre. “The meeting lasted 34 minutes, “I feel like this is a direct attack on the union,” said Lefebvre. “It shows a great lack of respect for the union, and the community.”

Dennis Couvrette, president of CAW Local 599, is concerned that Xstrata is not honouring its three-year collective agreement.

“When we signed the agreement, we were aware it was a collective agreement, not a closure agreement,” said Couvrette. “We had no indication that there was any problem, and the membership is feeling anger right now.

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Members of the province’s largest labour union have converged by the hundreds at a downtown Vancouver hotel for their annual convention.

CUPE President Barry O’Neill says there was a lot of anger in the room.

“They’re pretty hot. People are very, very angry and they are now willing to do more than they’ve ever done to get BC back on track. They’re the ones that can do it by the way — it won’t be any bureaucrat.”

As for what’s on the agenda for the 4-day convention, O’Neill says “strengthening communities, talking about different kinds of revenue streams, working with small business…”

Finding someone at the CUPE convention who supports the Harmonized Sales Tax is next to impossible, and while the group leading the charge to kill the blended tax does have a presence at the event, it’s only in the form of pamphlets — petition canvassers are nowhere to be found.

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WELLAND — Lakeside Steel has suspended several workers and filed charges against Canadian Auto Workers Union Local 523 alleging the union was conducting an unlawful strike.

It has resulted in a “powder keg” mood at the Welland steel mill, a worker from the plant informed The Tribune via e-mail.

Union representatives were at an Ontario Labour Relations Board hearing in Toronto at 1 p.m., Wednesday, defending the union against the company’s allegations.

The CAW issued a letter to its workers at Lakeside, Tuesday, informing them about the charges against the union, as well as the indefinite suspension of workers. A copy of that letter was sent to The Tribune, Tuesday evening.

Charges against the union stem from the company’s belief there was a concerted effort amongst several workers who accepted overtime work to then cancel their availability, the letter says.

In response, the CAW filed a grievance regarding the suspension of the workers.

About three or four workers may have been suspended, according to unconfirmed reports from workers who have contacted The Tribune.

The company will not publicly discuss the issue.

“We have no comment on any employee relation issues,” Ken Hunter, Lakeside’s chief financial officer, said Wednesday afternoon.

In a story published at the start of this month, Hunter said increased demand for the pipes it manufactures required the company to temporarily increase production. Because those jobs were temporary in nature, he said they were being filled internally.

The CAW’s letter said the union is aware of the current “disagreement in regards to the use of ‘on-call workers’ for the temporary nine-week period.”

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Appointment of operations and sales expert Ron Ritter signals continued growth for crisis and disaster response leader

CLEVELAND, April 19 /PRNewswire/ – Ohio-based International Management Assistance Corporation (IMAC) has strengthened its management team with the appointment of Ron Ritter as its new manager of crisis and disaster response services. The new hire follows a year of continued growth for the crisis and disaster response solutions leader. He assumes the position effective immediately.

In his new role, Mr. Ritter will lead business development and customer relations, serving IMAC’s diverse business clients across America. This will include performing specialized security assessments of client sites and developing recommendations for security enhancements, applying the correct, measured IMAC approach. In addition, Mr. Ritter will be IMAC’s principal liaison with businesses and senior management when it comes to servicing clients and selling IMAC’s crisis and disaster response services.

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Reports of assaults, vandalism and failure to follow previous court orders on the picket line

Striking workers at an Ontario mining and smelting company have had their picketing significantly restricted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Workers at Vale INCO, a mining, milling, smelting and refining company in Sudbury, Ont., went on strike on July 13, 2009. From the beginning of the strike, Vale said picketers blocked the entrances to several of the company’s locations, illegally denying it access to its facilities. The union said it was acting within its rights to picket and delay traffic into and out of the workplaces.

Vale was able to obtain legal orders instructing the striking workers not to delay any emergency or environmental vehicles or key staff at the entrances to Vale’s property. Picketers were also limited to delaying other vehicles a maximum of 12 or 15 minutes, depending on the time of day and not to cause any delay for those leaving Vale premises.

The strike became more acrimonious and Vale claimed striking workers were violating the legal orders. It said masked picketers continued to delay all vehicles for between 27 minutes and seven hours and some of its staff were assaulted when they tried to enter the premises. The picket lines were also unsafe from large fires set so Vale trucks carrying explosives and fuel couldn’t cross the lines. Hydro wires were cut, rail equipment damaged and picketers littered the roads with nail spikes designed to puncture truck tires. Vale requested further orders to limit picketing.

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A looming labour dispute could cripple the fuelling of aircraft at Vancouver International Airport.

A federal conciliation officer was part of negotiations Monday between Local 20221 of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and GlobeGround Fuel Services and is scheduled to mediate negotiations again today.

The 73 members of the union work at the airport’s tank farm and fuel all international and domestic flights, with the exception of flights out of the south terminal.

They voted 93 per cent in favour of a strike Friday. But the union hasn’t issued 72-hours’ strike notice and the company hasn’t issued a 72-hour lockout notice.

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CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwire – April 8, 2010) – The union representing security guards at Heritage Park is warning that the Employer’s request for mediation might mean that the Heritage Park Society is preparing to lock out employees seeking a first collective agreement.

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 37 President Kevin Galley, is concerned that the Heritage Park Society is putting upcoming events at the park in jeopardy.

“I am very disappointed that the Employer chose to go the route of mediation at this time as we felt there has been plenty of progress at the bargaining table,” said Galley. ”We believe it may be the intention of the Employer’s bargaining team to quickly go through the mediation process so they can lock out the employees.”

“CUPE Local 37 will not stand idly by while the Heritage Park Society takes this aggressive move to crush a small number of their employees represented by a union.”

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