Nearly 300 locked-out Rogers Communications workers, members of the United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 1944, Unit 60, will be heading back to work on Wednesday after voting to ratify their new collective agreement. A tentative agreement was reached on Friday and voted on last night with 96% in favour of ratification.
On Nov 6, the Steelworkers were locked out by Rogers, after the union issued a 72-hour strike notice to fight against the erosion of jobs from contracting-out language.
“I am so proud of our Unit 60 members for standing so strongly together to fight back against the threat of Rogers contracting out their jobs,” said Donna Hokiro, USW Local 1944 president. “While I recognize that this might not have been the best deal, I do believe it’s a fair deal and we achieved restrictions on contracting-out language that puts our members first.”
Through the new collective agreement, the members achieved 14.25% wage increases over a five-year deal with retroactive pay, a $1,000 signing bonus and an assurance to members of automation protections, backfill language, hiring language commitments, a cap on contract use, clearly defined jurisdiction and enhanced layoff protection.
“When you talk about being strong as steel, that’s what our members were throughout this entire lockout. In their effort to push back on the appalling demands from Rogers at the table, members took to the streets, rallied outside the Rogers Tower in downtown Vancouver and talked to their Members of Parliament about the importance of federal anti-scab legislation. I’m very proud of our members for standing up for their work and futures. Our members are eager to get back on the job to serve the communities where they work,” said Hokiro.
Through the support of the membership, the broader labour movement and the public, hundreds of letters were sent to Members of Parliament (MPs)calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government to pass federal anti-scab legislation, Bill C-58, as soon as possible.
“On behalf of all of our members, I thank the public and the labour movement for standing with Rogers workers during the lockout,” said Andy Wong, chair of USW Local 1944, Unit 60. “To Unit 60, thank you for standing so strong with each other every day on the line. It was truly inspirational and gave the bargaining committee the strength and support to reach this deal.”
“Thank you for demanding Rogers not send scabs to your homes when internet services went down. Thank you for joining us on the line and dropping off donations. Thank you for taking the time to write your MPs to pass federal anti-scab legislation that has become known as Rogers anti-scab legislation. We couldn’t have done this without your support,” said Wong.
“I also want to thank the many MPs who took time out of their busy schedules to drop by the lockout line including Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Jenny Kwan, Don Davies, Peter Julian and Bonita Zarrillo, and to all those who sent tweets and support our way. We saw and heard every message and we cannot thank you enough for your support. We look forward to Bill C-58 being passed, so no other federal worker will have scabs do their jobs while they stand up and fight for better,” said Wong.
The USW-represented technicians, who are responsible for building, maintaining and repairing internet, phone and television infrastructure and services for businesses and homes, are expected to return to work on Wednesday.
The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.
Each year, thousands of workers, like our members at Rogers Communications, choose to join the USW because of our strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions.
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