President’s Message
In the closing days of 2018, I have had the opportunity to reflect upon our collective achievements and the challenges that lie ahead of us. Before touching on some of these, I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to all of you for your continuing support. I also want to express my appreciation to the PWU Executive Team, Chief Stewards, Staff and their families. Your unwavering dedication and commitment make our successes possible. In addition to this, the PWU has been monitoring the direction and state of the energy industry in Canada. It’s no secret that the industry is in a state of transition, but thanks to the expertise, unwavering dedication and solidarity of our members and leadership, the PWU continues to be the strongest energy sector union and a leading force in Ontario’s energy sector.
During the last twelve months, we have achieved several major accomplishments together. Thanks to the efforts of your Executive Team, Bargaining Committees and Support Staff, the PWU continued to secure solid agreements. For the first time in our history, Collective Agreements with five of our largest employers expired concurrently. Three of these agreements were renegotiated at the same time and ratified by the membership. Presently, we are engaged in the conciliation process with Alectra as we merge five collective agreements into one. As well, we are currently in a legal strike position with OPG and job action activities have taken place post December 13th voting results. The members of OPG have voted in favor of a strike action at 59.8%. We appreciate the support of all members in this activity.
In Sector 3, several representation votes have also taken place in 2018 driven by some local distribution company mergers and amalgamations. We can expect to be involved in more of these votes in the coming years as mergers/amalgamations continue within the local distribution companies.
