On strike

Workers at Bombardier are officially on strike.

Hundreds of workers were outside of the Thunder Bay Bombardier plant with signs in hand, spilling onto Montreal Street just after 4 p.m. as the strike deadline passed.

Canadian Auto Workers Local 1075 president Dominic Pasqualino said the company still had concessions on the table at 4 p.m., so his bargaining unit decided to strike.

"We’re hoping it’s going to be the shortest strike ever, and in fact I know that management has been calling their head office," Pasqualino said. "It’s frustrating for us to get to this point but we have to do something."

Pasqualino said he didn’t want to get into details about the negotiations other than to say an agreement could not be reached on wages and pensions.

The union had a 100 per cent strike mandate from skilled workers and 99.3 per cent from the general membership, which includes more than 730 workers.

Pasqualino said it’s the first time in 27 years that the workers have gone on strike.

And with three contracts at the plant right now, and more people being hired every week, Pasqualino said he thought an agreement could be reached by now.

"We weren’t expecting to go on strike," he said. "There’s a huge amount of work here."
Bombardier spokesman Marc-Andre Lefebvre said it’s unfortunate that the union chose to walk away from the negotiating table. The company bargained in good faith and met all of the elements needed for a collective agreement.

"We’ve done everything that we could up until this day," Lefebvre said.
Like his union counterpart, Lefebvre wouldn’t get into details about the contract.

While he hopes the two sides will get back to negotiating soon, Lefebvre warned that Bombardier will do whatever is necessary to make sure its commitment to clients is fulfilled.

"We remain determined to find a solution that will enable us to deliver on our commitment to our customers."


The last three-year collective agreement expired in June. That contract included a nine per cent pension increase, a $1.20 per hour raise including a cost of living allowance fold-in, contract language improvements and contracting-out language for trades workers.

There was also a $5,000 bonus for employees retiring before the contract expired.