Global News Montreal employees reject offer; 170 Molson workers to lose jobs
Offshore workers join PSAC
ST. JOHN’S — More than 50 workers from Offshore Recruiting Services (ORSI) in St. John’s joined the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) on June 2 after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) granted the skilled offshore labourers with union certification.
“There is still work to be done, but certification with PSAC is a crucial step to secure what we have earned: fair working conditions and a proper collective agreement,” says Kaleb Milne, president of PSAC Local.
PSAC has represented this group of workers since 1975. First, as employees of the Northern Transportation Company (NTCL), and since NTCL’s closure, as employees of ORSI, under a series of annual memorandums of understanding (MOU), says the union.
The workers determined that it would be preferable to secure their bargaining rights through the CIRB’s certification processes. An application for certification was filed in March, and a notice to bargain served shortly thereafter, says PSAC.
The newly formed bargaining unit will begin negotiating a new collective agreement shortly, says union.
Offshore Recruiting Services is an offshore labour contractor specializing in providing marine, drilling, subsea construction and catering personnel to work on specialized subsea construction vessels and installations throughout Canada and abroad.
Global News Montreal employees reject offer
MONTREAL — Montreal employees of Global News turned down an offer on June 5 from the employer, Corus Entertainment, to renew the collective agreement.
About 91 per cent voted against the offer, with 90 per cent of the membership having taken part in the electronic vote. The main stumbling block is protection of purchasing power, but benefits and the pension plan are also contentious issues, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 4502.
“We will continue to be strongly mobilized and in the upcoming days, we will submit a request for conciliation to Employment and Social Development Canada,” says Anne Leclair, president of CUPE, Local 4502.
The employer’s offer of a four-year contract called for a lump-sum payment for year one, followed by annual increases of 1.5 per cent for each of the following three years, says the union.
About 40 employees — made up of journalists, video journalists and technical and support personnel — have been without a collective agreement since Aug. 30, 2019. Negotiations began in early 2020, says CUPE.
170 Molson workers to lose jobs
MONTREAL — The Teamsters learned on June 2 that 170 workers at the Molson plant on Notre-Dame Street and at the distribution centre on Dickson Street in Montreal will lose their jobs when operations are transferred to the new plant in late 2021.
“It’s a sad day for these men and women who are getting the bad news today,” says Michel Héroux, Teamsters, Local 1999 president. “Technological changes and the move away from brown glass bottles are partly to blame for these job losses.”
Complete details about the cuts have not been released yet. Teamsters representatives will meet with Molson-Coors executives in the coming days to learn more. Voluntary severance packages will also be negotiated for workers who choose to leave, says the union.
The new plant is set to open in the fall of 2021, with the capacity to brew 2.5 million hectolitres of beer over a five-day-per-week schedule, says Teamsters.
The Teamsters Union represents 125,000 members in Canada. They are affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which has 1.4 million members in North America.
