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Negotiations with D-J Composites and Unifor are underway this week for at least one round of collective bargaining before any unresolved issues go to binding arbitration.
“At the heart of this dispute has been the struggle of workers to have a union and Unifor will always defend that right,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor’s National President.
After 663 days on a picket line, and a massive solidarity action involving hundreds of Unifor members across Canada, the employer agreed to binding arbitration on October 5, 2018.
“This lockout has exposed gaping problems with the province’s labour laws. We made a promise to our 30 members that we would fight to have these laws fixed, so no other group of workers will have to experience such an egregious attack on their rights. We will continue that fight for as long as it takes,” said Lana Payne, Atlantic Regional Director.
Earlier this week, a Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court judge accepted a joint resolution of a contempt complaint by the company that Unifor violated a May 2017 injunction order when it blockaded the aerospace plant for ten days.
In order to resolve that contempt complaint, Unifor proposed that it would donate $100,000 to local charities, which were chosen by the employer.
The union also agreed to personal fines of $5000 each for Dias and Payne and $10,000 for Local 597.
The focus now is on reaching a new collective agreement for the 30 workers to resolve the longest lockout in Newfoundland and Labrador labour history.
