Vertis dispute in court
FORT ERIE — A dispute between former employees of Vertis Communications and Quad/ Graphics Marketing will most likely be resolved in a courtroom — not on the picket line.
And it will likely take some time before all the legal issues are ironed out.
On Thursday, lawyers representing both t he workers, who are members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworks Union of Canada and Quad/ Graphics appeared in the Superior Court of Justice in St. Catharines to try to resolve issues on the picket line.
“Our client wants to access the plant and get their materials out,” said lawyer Lorenzo Lisi, of the Toronto law firm Aird and Berlis. The firm filed for an injunction on behalf of Quad/ Graphics, who bought the assets of the closed Stevensville printing plant.
Lisi said workers have no right to stop trucks entering and leaving the plant. Their dispute is with Vertis, not Quad/Graphics.
Lawyer Denis Ellickson, who represents the union, said Vertis told the workers they have no money, so the only thing that remains are the assets. The workers are owed money and they have been blockading the plant until they’re paid what
(We) don’t want to break any laws, but we are owed $2.7 million and we are not going away.”
Dan Wickson
they’re owed.
More than 100 workers at the Eagle St. plant found themselves out of work in January when their jobs were terminated without severance pay.
The plant has been closed, but the equipment has been purchased by Quad/Graphics, which is moving it to another location.
The workers claim they are owed about $2.7 million.
Vertis’s U. S. parent company filed for bankruptcy protection last summer.
Vertis announced in October that Wisconsin- based Quad/ Graphics had acquired most of its assets, but not the Fort Erie plant.
Lisi told court there was an incident last Friday when a transport truck was blocked from getting through the picket line.
“We are between a rock and a hard place,” said Lisi.
The union’s lawyer argued there was no blockage and people were getting in and out.
“The truck was held up, but then it left on its own,” said Ellickson.
Justice Robert Nightingale said the workers can picket, but “the law doesn’t give them more rights than that,” If they have any concerns about what is happening with the assets, there are legal avenues that can be explored.
Lawyers for the two sides have agreed to come up with a “picket protocol” that will outline how long a vehicle can be stopped.
After court, Dan Wickson, president of Local 425-G, said his members “don’t want to break any laws, but we are owed $2.7 million and we are not going away.”