Workers
ratify deal
with Town of
Midland, Ont.
MIDLAND, Ont. — Members
of Ontario Public Service Em-
ployees Union (OPSEU) Local
328, representing outside work-
ers with the Town of Midland,
Ont., have ratified a tentative
agreement reached.
Negotiations began in June
but stalled in September. At the
union's request, the Ministry of
Labour issued a "no-board" re-
port, thereby triggering a 17-day
countdown to a strike.
However, last-minute media-
tion avoided a labour disruption.
Midland council seems to
have a taste for brinkmanship,
noting that workers had to resort
to a strike mandate in 2014 to get
the town to bargain seriously
said Warren (Smokey) Thomas
OPSEU president.
"This time, outside workers
were bending over backwards
to get a deal," said Thomas. "And
while councillors are the only
part-time town workers with
benefits, they tried to rob full-
time workers of their drug and
dental benefits."
Local 328 represents the town's
parks and recreation, operations
and water and wastewater staff.
eatre staff
sign new
agreement
ROUYN-NORANDA, Que. —
Workers at the Theatre du cuivre
in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., signed
a new collective agreement and
have a contract in place through
Dec. 2021.
"We were very pleased with
the negotiation process as it took
only a single meeting to resolve
all issues," said Marjolaine Bou-
tin Canadian Union of Public
Employees (CUPE) representa-
tive. "Workers will be getting an
average pay increase of 2.7 per
cent per year."
The local represents Theatre
du cuivre employees including
assistant technicians, commu-
nications officers and technician
helpers.
The new six-year contract in-
cludes adjustments to the work
schedule for tearing down after
shows as well as conditions gov-
erning layoffs and callbacks for
events.
The previous collective agree-
ment had expired on Dec. 31,
2015.
Agreement
reached at
Scarborough,
Ont., support
services
SCARBOROUGH, Ont. —
Hours before a midnight strike
deadline, 48 workers represent-
ed by the Ontario Public Service
Employees Union (OPSEU) in
Local 518 reached a tentative
deal with Settlement Assistance
and Family Support Services
(SAFSS) in Scarborough, Ont.
"We are so thrilled and proud
of our members for persevering
through these 18 months of ne-
gotiations, and we thank them
for their tenacity," said Valentina
Khoudiakova, Local 518 bar-
gaining chair. "They all stood
strong, and they made it hap-
pen."
Details of the contract — Lo-
cal 518's first as members of OP-
SEU — will not be released until
it is ratified.
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LABOUR LENS
A West Chester University student places a sign atop a sculpture of the ram mascot during a
demonstration with university employees who failed to reach a contract deal with the state education
system in West Chester, Penn., on Oct. 19.
