Canadian Labour Reporter

2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017 CUPE , Sunwing reach agreement TORONTO — CUPE Local 4055, which represents Sun- wing's flight attendants, reached a tentative agreement with the employer on Jan. 28. "The tentative agreement we reached improves our members' working conditions significant- ly," said Mark Brancelj, president of CUPE Local 4055. "Therefore, the bargaining committee unan- imously recommends ratifica- tion of the five-year deal." No more details will be made public until the agreement is pre- sented to members. Member- ship meetings will be held across Canada and the ratification vote will follow, said the union. Bargaining sessions with the assistance of a mediator started on Jan. 26. The flight attendants' collective agreement expired on May 31, 2016. CUPE Local 4055 represents 1,000 flight attendants working at Sunwing's eight bases: Mon- treal, Toronto, Vancouver, Cal- gary, Halifax, Ottawa, Quebec City, and Winnipeg. Freedom Mobile workers join USW WINDSOR, Ont. — After an organizing campaign, Free- dom Mobile workers in Wind- sor, Ont., have voted to join the United Steelworkers (USW). Freedom Mobile — previ- ously known as Wind Mobile — was purchased in 2015 by Shaw Communications for $1.6 billion. The 187 employees in Wind- sor work in Freedom's customer care call centre. The vote was conducted on Jan. 19 and Jan. 21 by the Can- ada Industrial Relations Board, said the union. Next steps will include a sur- vey of all employees to gather input on collective bargaining priorities and the election of a negotiating committee in prep- aration for bargaining, accord- ing to the union. "We are excited to work with these new members as Freedom Mobile grows and expands," said Lee Riggs, president of the Telecommunications Workers Union, United Steelworkers National Local 1944, which rep- resents more than 12,000 work- ers in the telecommunications sector across Canada. Workers at Barrie, Ont., Morton House give 100 per cent strike vote BARRIE, Ont. — Workers in Ontario Public Service Employ- ees Union (OPSEU) Local 355 at Morton House in Barrie, Ont., gave the bargaining team a 100 per cent strike mandate after a vote Jan. 23. "We haven't seen any signifi- cant wage increases since about 2002," said Steve Young, bar- gaining team chair. The employer is refusing any increase for full-time staff, and the increase proposed for part- time workers will do little to ad- dress the problem of high turn- over in those positions, said the union. Management recently com- pleted renovations, including a $600 faucet and new leather couches, it said. "It's a bit rich, for an employer to cry poor while throwing mon- ey at over-the-top renovations." said Warren (Smokey) Thomas, OPSEU president. Morton House employs 16 workers. The home provides open custody support for male young persons, ages 12-17, who are in trouble with the law. 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: customersupport.legaltaxcanada @tr.com Website: www.carswell.com Director, Media Solutions, Canada Karen Lorimer Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Todd Humber Editor/Supervisor Sarah Dobson | (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com News Editor John Dujay | (416) 298-5129 john.dujay@thomsonreuters.com Contributing Editor Jeff rey R. Smith Marketing Co-ordinator Keith Fulford | (416) 649-9585 keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com © 2017 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.labour-reporter.com Photo: Thomas Mukoya (Reuters) LABOUR LENS Ouma Oluga, secretary-general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentist Union, marches with other doctors as they demand ful lment of a 2013 agreement that would raise their pay and improve working conditions in Nairobi, Kenya, on Jan. 26. LABOUR BRIEFS

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