Category Archives: unions
Ikea face-off in Richmond marked by fourth contract offer rejection
By Tom Sandborn Published August 21, 2013 http://thetyee.ca
Unionized workers locked out of the Richmond Ikea since May have unanimously rejected a fourth contract offer from the company, while other unions are calling for a boycott of the store at the centre of the dispute, as well as one in Coquitlam.
Ikea has been embroiled in a bitter labour fight with its Teamster employees at the Richmond outlet since May 13. The powerful firm reported US$32 billion in revenues last year.
Ikea management tabled a contract offer during mediation this July that was rejected by the union in a unanimous “no” vote. Three other offers from the company have been rejected by membership over the course of the dispute.
Meanwhile, an internal hearing at Teamsters local 213 stripped membership from 32 Ikea employees who broke with their union and chose to work behind picket lines.
Teamster business agent Anita Dawson said in its latest offer, Ikea pulled back from some of its earlier “backward bargaining”, a strategy the company employed earlier in the dispute that involved gradually removing elements from its offer as the dispute continued.
The company also pulled back from its insistence on establishing multi-tiered wages, Dawson said, but the offer was still too weak to satisfy workers.
In June, Dawson told The Tyee that the company’s proposed contract at that time “included a tiered wage system which will see some existing employees getting reduced wages and benefits.”
Ikea spokeswoman Madeleine Lowenborg-Frick said the Ikea Richmond store “has consistently been the lowest performing store in Canada, specifically having the lowest productivity while having the highest staff costs.
“IKEA provided the union with an amended proposal on July 17, eliminating the two-tier wage system, which was the primary barrier that brought the parties into mediation. The proposal allowed IKEA to address the union’s expressed leading concern, while also addressing the store’s poor performance,” she wrote in an email.
Lowenborg-Frick explained that the company’s last contract proposal made most of the possible wage increases contingent on the Richmond store hitting new productivity targets.
Ikea is missing the point, Dawson said.
“The company did table another offer on July 24 that did not have a two tier, but this offer was unanimously rejected by the bargaining unit because the only guaranteed wage increase for employees with four or more years of service was 1.5 per cent in the first year. Nothing guaranteed in subsequent years,” Dawson said in an email.
“For employees with less than four years of service, the offer did not have a two-tier wage system, but it only guaranteed two per cent a year on the start rate until the wage got to current max. This means that it could take decades to reach top rate, i.e. if you start at $12 an hour at two per cent a year, it would take 23 years to get to $19.45.”
Tom Sandborn covers labour and health policy beats for the Tyee. He welcomes your feedback and story tips at tos65@telus.net.
– See more at: http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/2013/08/21/Richmond-Ikea-Dispute-Update/#sthash.Lt6Ftul3.dpuf
State of the unions
Konrad Yakabuski piles up the negative adjectives in his description of unions (A Radical Idea For Union Leaders: Partnership – Aug. 19). He also talks about us representing “working stiffs,” which is a gratuitous insult to the 4.6-million unionized workers in Canada. Furthermore, he suggests we are wedded to confrontation and uninterested in productivity or our employers’ economic health.
I can tell him that more than 99 per cent of our collective agreements with employers are settled without strike or lockout. We are, indeed, interested in seeing employers do well because that is the basis of family-supporting middle-class jobs in Canada. Unions are involved, often with employers, in workplace training and apprenticeship programs, which lead to productivity gains for employers. For example, we have a joint venture with the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters to do research that looks into effective remote learning and also promotes new occupational credentials in manufacturing. These initiatives are hiding out in the open for reporters to cover.
Ken Georgetti, president, Canadian Labour Congress
Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers on strike
By Peter Meiszner Global News
Rally at Holiday Inn & Suites Vancouver Downtown May 2, 2013 UniteHere Local 40
Hotel workers in Richmond went on strike today, the first such strike by hotel workers in the Vancouver area in 13 years.
Workers at the Sheraton Airport hotel — which is owned by West Vancouver-based Larco Hospitality — say they are earning $2 an hour less than workers at competing hotels such as the Delta Vancouver Airport. The union also says workers are expected to change more beds than at competing hotels and often have to work through their breaks.
The union says hotel management has refused to meet for bargaining. The workers have been without a contract since May 31, 2012.
Tell North Shore Winter Club managers and board that it’s time to end the lockout
http://cupe.ca/action/nswc-lockout
CUPE 389 members at the North Shore Winter Club (NSWC) in North Vancouver have been locked out by their employer since May 3, after only four days of negotiations. CUPE employees at the NSWC are dedicated professionals who ensure the health and safety of the family recreation centre.
The NSWC is attempting to force CUPE employees into accepting a subpar agreement which includes zero wage increase, proposed cuts to sick time and vacation time as well as changes to language which could result in reductions to CUPE employee’s work hours.
Since initiating the lockout, NSWC managers and the board of directors have been found guilty of hiring scabs to perform CUPE employees’ work. They have also violated provincial safe working practices and told long-term employees they “don’t care” about them.
It’s time to end this senseless lockout so CUPE employees can return to work and negotiate a fair and reasonable collective agreement. Please take a moment and send an email to NSWC managers and the board of directors telling them to end the lockout now.
Andrew Phillip Chernoff 