Striking Kanata nuclear workers say owner moved deal's goalposts

After nine months on the picket line, one of the unions representing striking workers at a west Ottawa nuclear facility believed the owner was finally ready to reach a deal on salary increases last month.

Representatives of Krishnan Suthanthiran — owner of Kanata medical manufacturer Best Theratronics —  scheduled negotiations with unions in January, even indicating to one that a deal was within reach.

"We were getting messages from the company that, 'OK, we just need to get signatures,'" said Jan Malek, the national representative for Unifor, which represents 40-odd Best Theratronics employees.

Staff could be back at work within days, Malek said Suthanthiran's negotiators told Unifor. But then, Malek said, Suthanthiran introduced new demands. 

"You can't go in there and bargain to a deal and then say, 'Oh, the scenario changed. We need this new condition added to it. Oh, we need something else to keep moving the goalpost,'" Malek told CBC on Tuesday.

Last-minute changes, cancellation

Meanwhile, CBC has confirmed that Suthanthiran's representatives cancelled negotiations with a second union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), after the union had already joined a scheduled call. 

Citing the sensitivity of the situation, PSAC declined an on-record interview request.

"The current negotiations process being undertaken by the employer is completely unprecedented," a PSAC spokesperson said. "As such, we are mindful that it may become more challenging to proceed in negotiations if we antagonize the employer in the media and are choosing to be cautious on this front."

Suthanthiran has not responded to repeated recent requests for comment from CBC but has previously accused the unions of implementing an "illegal blockade" of his facility, something Unifor denies.

"Our picket line has not been declared illegal and in our view it's reasonable under the circumstances," Malek said. 

Last-minute changes requested by Suthanthiran's representatives involved allowing non-union workers onto the site ahead of unionized workers, Malek said, leading Unifor to fear that Suthanthiran would attempt to remove equipment and liquidate the company's assets.

"It is a real concern that the owner could be looking at closing," Malek said, "given the owner's past statements about closing the building and moving the business."

Suthanthiran has previously told CBC that Best Theratronics has sustained loses of nearly $30 million "over the last several years" and has threatened to close the company. 

In 2012, a Belgian nuclear company owned by Suthanthiran was placed into administration, leaving Belgian authorities to decommission the site. The cleanup operation at Best Medical Belgium has taken over a decade, with one Belgian politician estimating the total cost to authorities at 128 million euros, or close to $200 million Canadian.

Unifor and PSAC have both lodged unfair labour practice complaints against Suthanthiran, accusing him of flouting the law by failing to negotiate in good faith. 

The Canadian Industrial Labour Board heard the complaints last year and told CBC it aimed to issue a decision within 90 days. 

"It's been nearly three months without a decision from the labour board, which is absolutely shameful," Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi said in a statement Tuesday. "Had we received a decision in a timely manner, our members might not be on a picket line right now." 

Unifor has called on federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to intervene and force binding arbitration. 

"Negotiated agreements are the best way forward," Matthieu Perrotin, a spokesperson for MacKinnon, told CBC in a statement. 

"The parties are responsible for reaching agreements and need to put [in] the work necessary to achieve just that."