BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
They marched on MPP Rick Bartolucci?s office, some 50 strong, shouting ?Two-Tier, Not Here.?
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Members of the Society of Energy Professionals have been on strike for three months. Their employer wants to offer new employees a reduced benefit package. The rally attracted support from other unions. |
Workers from the Hydro One Society of Energy Professionals, who have been on strike now for three months, held a support rally in an effort to get Bartolucci to help resolve the bitter labour dispute.
Bartolucci wasn?t in the office. The minister for Northern Development and Mines was in Sioux Lookout, but he did respond.
?The government has been actively involved in assisting the parties in this dispute,? said Bartolucci through e-mail. ?A provincial mediator has met with both sides and remains available for mediation at any time. We support all efforts to get both sides talking again. We strongly urge the Society of Energy Professionals and Hydro One to return to the bargaining table.?
?In the meantime, as MPP, I continue to work diligently in ensuring the views of my constituents on both sides of this issue are conveyed to my caucus colleagues.?
At stake is two-tier employee benefits, which would be reduced for new and future workers in the new deal.
?The contract Hydro One is offering is terrible,? said chief picket captain Wayne Collins. ?We are not going to accept two-tier benefits. We have a fair
solution. We don?t want to be on strike. We want to be working. We should be in arbitration right now to get this solved.?
The rally drew all kinds of support, including CUPE 4705 president Wyman MacKinnon, who said he was more than disgusted with the events
surrounding the strike.
?We are here to support these employees,? said MacKinnon. ?Hydro One has made it impossible for these people to work...the concessions they?re asking for is ridiculous. It?s redundant ideology. We?re not going to allow this to happen. We?re here to build communities, not tear them apart.?
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MPP Bartolucci was out when strikers visited. |
The rally even attracted strikers from the North Bay Hydro One Society.
Bill Szumik, who has worked for Hydro for 32 years, felt compelled to drive to the Nickel City from the Gateway City to join in.
?This strike is ludicrous,? said Szumik. ?We?re out here for the future workers, not just ourselves, so that they will have a fair and just contract. If we don?t hold our ground here and now, then this will cascade on forever...into other Hydro groups.?
Szumik hopes the rally and march will get the wheels spinning on a deal.
?It?s unfortunate that we have to be on strike, but that?s how it is,? said Szumik. ?Hopefully management will get some common sense and come back to the table with a fair deal.?
Carol Hughes, representative with the Canadian Labour Congress ? Northeastern Region, threw her support behind the striking workers.
?We?re here for our brothers and sisters,? said Hughes. ?We have been fighting the two-tier benefits system for a while in other sectors. We will continue to fight against them. We fought long and hard for the benefits that are already there. If we lose it, it leaves future workers with very little.
This rally should have an impact. If it doesn?t, then we have elected the wrong people into office.?
Scott Duncan, vice-president of the United Steelworkers of America Local 6500, urged the strikers to continue the fight.
?Two-tier benefits is wrong,? said Duncan. ?We walked the line for three months over benefits. It?s a tough fight, but if these people hold their ground...I am sure two-tier benefits will be off the table.?
Comment from Hydro One officials was unavailable at press time.
