Canadian Labour Reporter

Unifor employees locked out at Pacifi c Coach Lines VANCOUVER — The British Columbia-based shuttle com- pany Pacific Coach Lines (PCL) has locked out employees repre- sented by Unifor. Unifor Local 114 represents 77 PCL employees, including drivers, mechanics, service staff and ticketing agents. PCL lost its contract per- forming cross-water bus service with BC Ferries in 2015. Ap- proximately 70 per cent of PCL's workforce was laid off following the loss of the contract, accord- ing to Unifor. The union says PCL is lock- ing out its members rather than complete good faith bargaining involving a fair severence pack- age. Last year Unifor members voted in favour of job action but the parties continued to bargain and no picket line was set up. A major issue between the parties is the employees' sever- ance package, according to the union. Unifor Local 114 has one grievance at arbitration and two more to follow concerning the issue of severance. The lockout is an unnecessary escalation, the union said. "PCL thinks it can dodge re- sponsibility to pay severance to employees, some of them 20- year veterans who served the company with pride," said Uni- for national representative Ma- rio Santos. "PCL cannot escape their legal obligations under the collective agreement." Hospital employees receive arbitration award for fi rst agreement ST. THOMAS, ONT. — Of- fice and clerical workers at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospi- tal (STEGH) reached their first collective agreement with their employer. The employees — represent- ed by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Lo- cal 159 — received the contract through an interest arbitration award. The deal includes wage in- creases of 1.4 per cent, 0.7 per cent and 0.7 per cent over a three-year term. According to the union, the agreement also includes im- provements to job security and a standardized wage grid with regular service progression. More than 500 workers at STEGH will be affected by the collective agreement. "It's always encouraging when newly organized workers arrive at a first collective agreement that meets their needs and ex- pectations," said OPSEU presi- dent Warren (Smokey) Thomas. Sunwing Airlines pilots establish strike mandate ETOBICOKE, ONT. — Sun- wing Airlines pilots — repre- sented by Unifor Local 7378 — have given a 96 per cent strike mandate to the union's negotiat- ing team. The pilots' collective agree- ment expired in November 2015. The parties have gone through the conciliation process man- dated under the Canada Labour Code and the mediation and cooling off period ends on May 30. Once the mediation and cool- ing off period is over, the union could give the employer a 72- hour strike notice. A labour dispute would affect 380 pilots operating in seven bases across Canada, including Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. LABOUR BRIEFS 2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2016 FORMERLY CLV REPORTS Serving labour relations professionals since 1956 www.labour-reporter.com Published weekly by omson Reuters Canada Ltd. Subscription rate: $595 per year Customer Service Tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5106 Email: carswell.customerrelations@ thomsonreuters.com Website: www.carswell.com Director, Carswell Media Karen Lorimer Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Todd Humber Editor/Supervisor Sarah Dobson | (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com News Editor Liz Foster | (416) 298-5129 liz.foster@thomsonreuters.com Marketing Co-ordinator Keith Fulford | (416) 649-9585 keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com © 2016 Carswell, a division of omson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher. e publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional advice. If legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. e analysis contained herein represents the opinion of the authors and should in no way be construed as being either offi cial or unoffi cial policy of any governmental body. ISSN 0045-5113 Publications Registration 2089 Canadian Labour Reporter is part of the Canadian HR Reporter group of publications. Visit www.hrreporter.com for more information. Labour Reporter Canadian www.labourreporter.com Belgian prison offi cers gather in front of the Saint-Gilles prison in Brussels, Belgium. The offi cers have been on strike for weeks in protest over budget cuts. LABOUR LENS Photo: Czar Dancel

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