Plumbers and pipefitters ratify; sheet metal workers and roofers could strike
The latest developments in the province-wide collective bargaining negotiations have seen mixed results.
On May 17, the province’s ICI-sector plumbers and pipefitters ratified a proposed agreement with employers. Members of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry voted 60 percent in favour of the agreement. Details of the settlement were not available.
Meanwhile, the province’s sheet metal workers have rejected the latest offer by their employers. A May 17 statement on the website of the Ontario Sheet Metal Workers’ and Roofers’ Conference advised that members of the nine locals, “voted by a wide margin to reject the tentative agreement.”
“In doing so the members have sent a clear message to the Negotiating Committee and the Contractors’ Association that the Tentative Agreement was simply insufficient to address the dramatic increases to our members’ cost of living,” the statement added.
Bargaining is set to resume through the week of May 22 to 29, with a labour stoppage still very much a possibility.
Finally, the province’s ICI sector roofers, who are also represented by the Ontario Sheet Metal Workers’ and Roofers’ Conference, have “voted overwhelmingly to pursue a strike action” should negotiations scheduled for May 19 and 20 fail to lead to an agreement that can be ratified.