Sheet metal workers are out on strike
Posted May 9, 2019 07:45:35 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Sheet metal workers from Kitchener are joining their peers from across Ontario to take a stand against unfair updates to their contracts.
Workers say they are fighting for better pay and fair hours.
Sheet metal workers are now waiting to hear back from contractors who have so far refused to negotiate.
Business manager for the Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 562 in Kitchener, Lawrence Coulis, says contractors are now facing a 98 per cent strike mandate by sheet metal workers from across the province.
“We were sitting down with the contractors and they had brought a lot of stuff to the table, a lot of changes to our contract that were in favour of them and not us. They were offering us the lowest in the province, of all the trades, and most trades are in negotiation for their new contract.”
Coulis says their previous contract finished May 1st and they walked out of the workplace on May 6th after negotiations broke down.
“We sent them a letter last Thursday, asking them to come back to the table to take off the hours of work and the hiring hall provisions that they had put in, and they had sent back a letter on Friday saying ‘no, we’re standing strong on that.’”
He says sheet metal workers across the province are forced to go on strike because contractors want them to agree to unfair terms.
“They had increased our hours per week. They moved it from 36 in some areas up to 40 and 44 in other areas. They want us to have an eight-hour make-up day – so if you miss a day, they want us to make it up two hours at night or on a Saturday. We weren’t interested in that. Monetarily, they were offering us the lowest package out there, so we declined that as well.”
Workers are still waiting to hear back after responding to a letter received from contractors on Friday, turning down any chance of negotiation at this point.
They say contractors have offered several different small increases in pay to certain sheet metal workers across the province, and members say they want a much more uniform pay raise for all sheet metal workers across the province.
