THUNDER BAY -- Bombardier and Unifor Local 1075 have reached a tentative deal.
Company officials had reached the tentative agreement with the union representing nearly 900 of its striking workers late Thursday morning.
No details about the offer have been revealed to media, but Local 1075 president Dominic Pasquailno said union members will be presented with it Friday at 8:30 a.m. at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium.
A vote will take place following the presentation.
A ratification would also bring an end to a labour dispute that first saw Unifor members hit the picket lines on July 14.
Bombardier spokeswoman Stephanie Ash said that if the agreement is ratified, the company hopes to have employees back to work as soon as possible and the company is working on a return-to-work protocol with the union.
“That’s always been our goal since day one is to have everyone back to work and back to doing what we do best as quickly as we can,” she said early Thursday afternoon.
The company announced in late August it would be laying off some of their Canadian Office and Professional Employees (COPE) staff members. With a tentative agreement in place, Ash said they will be relooking all impacts of the strike with the goal to minimize the effects on their customers, employees and the community at-large.
“We’ll certainly be taking a hard look at what the next steps are. We believe that today we have a tentative agreement that certainly meets the needs of the company moving forward and also provides for well-paying jobs in the future for our Thunder Bay employees,” she said.
The primary point of contention during the labour dispute has been the concessions the company sought to early retirement benefits for recent hires and a change to the pension structure of future workers.
In late August, union members had an opportunity to vote on what Bombardier called its final offer. About 81 per cent of the Local 1075 members gave that offer the thumbs down amid a vote that was supervised by Ontario’s Ministry of Labour.
Had members accepted it, the offer would have seen employees hired after Dec. 31, 2010 receive a lump sum payout of $350 in lieu of any pre-65 early retirement benefits.
New hires would be ineligible for early retirement benefits.
Future hires would also have been enrolled in a defined contribution pension plan, while all current workers would remain on their defined benefit plan.
Brief history of Bombardier, Unifor labour dispute:
- May 8 - Unifor members vote to give union a strike mandate
- July 14 - Unable to reach an agreement, about 900 Bombardier employees go on strike
- July 16 - Bombardier discusses possibility of seeking picket line injunction citing “safety concerns”
- July 18 - Union members picket site of local public relations firm representing Bombardier
- July 22 - Picket-line standoff staged between pickets and company manager.
- July 23 - Company, union reach picket-line protocol agreement
- Aug. 5 - Union, company meet about railcar deliveries expected during strike
- Aug. 12 - Bombardier moves rail car off Montreal Street property
- Aug. 26 - Unifor members reject Bombardier offer during Ministry of Labour supervised vote
- Sept. 2 - Contract negotiations resume
- Sept. 5 - Company, union mutually agree to take a break from talks.
- Sept. 9 - Talks resume.
- Sept. 11 - Bombardier, Unifor Local 1075 reach tentative deal
- Sept. 12 - Unifor members expected to vote on tentative deal
This is a developing story, more information will be published soon.
