The PSAC local at Best Theratronics is on strike as of 6:30 a.m. Friday. The 12-member unit will be joining Unifor 1541 members who have been on strike since May 1 against the same employer.
PSAC-UNE 70369 members voted unanimously to take strike action should the offer on the table not drastically improve.
The employees have not seen a wage increase since June 2022, where for that same year, their wages were 24-26% behind direct comparators who work at BWXT and Nordion, which also has members represented by PSAC.
“It’s been clear that this employer just isn’t showing up to the bargaining table with a serious mandate to bargain,” said Alex Silas, Regional Executive Vice-President of PSAC in the National Capital Region. “Whether that’s bargaining with our members at local 70369 or the Unifor local 1541, that both groups have had to resort to strike votes to try to achieve any movement at the table speaks volumes.”
PSAC-UNE 70369 has been in bargaining since May 2023 and their collective agreement expired in March that same year. The bargaining team tabled monetary demands and wages in September and the employer has refused to put anything further on the bargaining table with the stipulation that they do not have a monetary mandate from the sole owner of the company.
PSAC filed for conciliation in February and in March conciliation took place. The employer asked for more time to secure a new monetary mandate and had nothing new to offer at conciliation.
“We were optimistic that things could change in conciliation, but the employer seemed to show up unprepared,” said Alisha Kang, National President of UNE. “Since then, the employer has been crying poor all while sending confusing emails to the workplace that can only be perceived as intimidation.”
On April 22, PSAC hosted a rally with Unifor, BWXT and Nordion workers who are located nearby and helped strengthen the sectoral visibility and solidarity between atomic energy workers in Kanata.
On May 1, Unifor 1541 went out on strike, with PSAC-UNE 70369 members joining to show their solidarity during breaks.