January 22, 2012 Ottawa courthouse security labor strike heads to arbitration www.privateofficer.com
Ottawa Canada Jan 22 2012 A three-month labour dispute at the Ottawa courthouse between security guards and the independent contractor that employs them is headed to binding arbitration.
The 10 guards are employed by Inkas Security Services, which took over the security contract at the courthouse last year from Garda. The workers, who are represented by the United Steel-workers, have been locked out since Oct. 3.
The dispute began after the Inkas takeover, when employees lost their pension and benefits, which included paid sick leave and long-term disability insurance, and their wages took a nosedive, the union says. The guards would also have to buy their own uniforms.
The union has collective agreements with several other security companies in the province, but not with Inkas, said United Steelworkers representative David Lipton. The union took action to recover what was lost in the service switch.
“They make less than $12 an hour,” Lipton said. “We’re not even seeking a wage increase, just to have benefits and dignity back for these workers.”
The workers went on strike when negotiations on a first collective agreement broke down after Inkas rejected the worker’s demands. The company’s final offer was for a 25-cents-per-hour raise, if the workers agreed to give up union backing. No benefits or pension were offered. The workers refused and the company locked them out.
The Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled Jan. 12 that the parties resolve the first collective agreement, with its pay and benefits dispute, via binding arbitration.
“The board made the right decision,” said Lipton. “Employees have the right to join a union and engage in collective bargaining to improve their working conditions.”
But Gary Kleiman, vicepresident of operations for Inkas security unit, said that he’s not looking forward to the arbitration.
“I’m not optimistic or calm about it,” he said by phone from Toronto, noting this would be his first time in binding arbitration.
“One thing we would hate is to lose money,” he said. “It’s un-Canadian to make an em-ployer lose money.”
Kleiman said that his financial concerns stem from the company’s inability to meet union workers demands.
“They demanded all employees get a pension plan,” he said. “But our bosses don’t even have a pension plan. We just can’t afford to have it.”
He said that the workers were looking for 66 cents per hour for their benefits, but that this amount exceeded company profits. “We would be losing money.”
The parties enter arbitration in the next two weeks.
Source:www.ottawacitizen.com
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