Labour board seals first collective agreement for telecom workers on strike since 2019
238 workers had been bargaining with Ledcor since unionizing in 2017
Union leaders in B.C. are celebrating a ruling from the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) that puts in place a first collective agreement for telecom workers who had been on strike since 2019.
The CIRB said in its ruling, dated June 22, that it's the first time since 1986 an application through the Canada Labour Code has been successful in fixing the terms of a first collective agreement.
The ruling comes nearly six years after 238 workers employed by LTS Solutions Ltd., part of Ledcor Group, certified as a local under the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW 213), and sought a collective agreement with the company to improve working conditions, job security and wages.
The majority of those workers were technicians installing and repairing telecommunications equipment at residences or businesses as contractors for Telus.
IBEW 213 said last Thursday's ruling, which settled the remaining disputes for the collective agreement, provides significant improvements to job security, health and welfare and pension benefits.
The board sided with the union in each of the six outstanding disagreements, other than for the duration of the collective agreement.
The imposed collective agreement will be two years and feature a five per cent wage increase for workers under ratification and a further three per cent increase in wages for the second year.
"This decision by the CIRB to finalize the collective agreement is further vindication of our position from Day 1 more than five years ago when we started bargaining with Ledcor," said IBEW 213 assistant business manager Robin Nedila in a release.
'A story about perseverance'
The CIRB granted the workers' certification on Aug. 31, 2017.
In the fall of 2019 IBEW workers became a fixture outside a Ledcor office in downtown Vancouver as they went on strike following what they called an "unpalatable" offer from LTS, which also terminated 31 workers at the time.
In December of that year, the union turned to the CIRB to have it settle the terms and conditions of its first collective bargaining agreement.
In November 2022, the board ruled in favour of the union and stepped in to oversee bargaining and the final collective agreement.
A return-to-work agreement was struck in December, but by that point the bargaining unit had been reduced to 65 people as many workers had to move on to other jobs to support themselves and their families.
"This has been a story about perseverance," said Dustin Brecht, who was the union organizer for the group with IBEW 213 in 2017.
Workers at Ledcor Technical Solutions organized and were certified on August 31, 2017. Nearly six years later, they finally have a first collective agreement.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ibew?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ibew</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cdnpoli?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cdnpoli</a> <a href="https://t.co/VbCvLuOSqE">https://t.co/VbCvLuOSqE</a>
—@IBEW213
CBC News has requested comment from Ledcor through its Vancouver lawyer Peter Gall.
The union is using the case to lobby the federal government to place further rules over the use of replacement workers.
Ledcor is regulated under the Canadian Labour Code, which, unlike B.C.'s Labour Relations Code, does not have strict rules around the prohibition of replacement workers.
Ottawa has promised to introduce legislation by the end of 2023 to prohibit the use of replacement workers when a union employer in a federally regulated industry has locked out employees, or when those employees go on strike.
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