Labourers' Union settlement averts Hydro One strike
TORONTO, Aug. 27 /CNW/ - A province-wide strike in Ontario's electricity transmission sector that had been scheduled to begin at 12:01 a.m., Monday, August 30 has been called off. A settlement has been reached between the Labourers' International Union of North America - Ontario Provincial District Council (LIUNA-OPDC) and the Electrical Power Systems Construction Association (EPSCA), which represents the owners of Hydro One and other electricity system contractors.
The strike had been called over the refusal by Hydro One and its contractors to match a five-year wage settlement reached yesterday with EPSCA's generation group and its contractor members. Today, that gap was bridged and the transmission group wage settlement upholds the longstanding practice of wage parity between the generation and transmission sectors under LIUNA collective agreements. Both the generation and transmission agreements will run until 2015.
"This is a good agreement for both the union and the employers," says Harold Bartlett, Assistant Business Manager of LIUNA's Ontario Provincial District Council.
"We have maintained wage parity for our members, which was essential, and the employers now have the labour cost efficiencies and flexibility they sought. It's a win-win."
LIUNA represents approximately 700 workers in Ontario's electricity sector and 85,000 members in Canada who work in the construction, industrial, health care and other sectors.
For further information:
Bill Reno, 416-223-7366
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