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Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015
hibernia
off shore oil
workers sign
new collective
agreement
ST. John'S — Employees at Hi-
bernia — the oil platform off the
coast of St. John's, N.L. — have
voted to accept a new collective
agreement with their employer.
The nearly 400 workers, rep-
resented by Unifor, accepted the
deal by a margin of 58 per cent.
Set to expire on June 30, 2019,
the new agreement includes im-
provements to wages, benefits
and working conditions for both
full-time and temporary em-
ployees.
"This was an extremely tough
round of bargaining," said Lana
Payne, Atlantic regional di-
rector for Unifor. "There is no
doubt that we still have some
unresolved issues in the work-
place, and I can guarantee that
the union will be working hard
over the term of the agreement
to have them resolved."
The new deal includes a lump
sum payment of $6,000 for regu-
lar employees, pro-rated, as well
as a wage increase of 3.5 per cent
when the agreement is ratified,
according to the union. Work-
ers will see an additional wage
increase of 3.75 per cent on July
1, 2015, and an increase of 3 per
cent in the years 2016, 2017 and
2018.
"These are tough jobs, working
in one of the toughest environ-
ments in the world, and we are
very proud to represent workers
in the offshore oil industry," said
Unifor's assistant to the presi-
dent, Dave Moffat. "We are ex-
pecting that this agreement will
help bring stability to this com-
plex workplace in the near and
long term."
B.C.'s Southern
railway
locks out 134
employees
frASer VALLeY, B.C. —
Southern Railway — the short-
haul rail company operating
freight service through the
southern Fraser Valley in B.C.
— locked out 134 unionized em-
ployees on Jan. 5.
The Canadian Union of Public
Employees (CUPE) represents
126 of the affected employees
while the Canadian Office and
Professional Employees Union
(COPE) represents the remain-
ing eight workers.
Several work sites — including
the main rail sites of New West-
minster Trapp Yard, Hunting-
don in Abbotsford and Annacis
Island in Delta — were affected
by the lockout.
Managers are currently oper-
ating the trains for a service area
stretching from Vancouver to
Chilliwack.
"We have a number of safety
concerns with regard to manag-
ers who may appear to be quali-
fied on paper now running trains
despite, in many cases, having
little experience actually run-
ning a train," said CUPE 7000
president Bill Magri.
"So our primary concern is
with public safety and maintain-
ing the highest safety standards,
especially given the transport of
dangerous goods."
CUPE 7000 members work-
ing at Southern Railway include
conductors, engineers, brake-
men, locomotive repair and
maintenance as well as trackmen
and employees supervising the
switching between lines.
Thousands of auto workers — employed by Mercedez-Benz, Ford Motor and Volkswagen — marched on
a highway outside of Sao Paulo, Brazil, to protest recent layoffs by carmakers.
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