STRIKE OVER AT JAMIESON
Union ratifies new deal
Unionized employees at the Jamieson plants in Windsor are back to work after ratifying a new deal on Tuesday — just two days into strike action.
“In all fairness to (the company), they did get back to the table,” said Gerry Farnham, president of Unifor Local 195, which represents 211 employees at the Jamieson Laboratories Ltd., facilities on Rhodes Drive and Twin Oaks Drive.
“We were able to hammer out another tentative agreement.”
The workers gathered at the union hall on Somme Avenue around 10 a.m. Tuesday to hear the latest contract offer from the longtime vitamin company.
The membership approved the agreement by a vote of 79 per cent.
Like the previous offer, the three-year deal involves 50-cent wage increases on the second and third years of the contract — but adds a 50-cent wage increase on the first year.
There is also a $1,000 lump sum payment.
“We clearly got a message from the membership last time,” Farnham said.
Farnham added that there is potential for the new agreement to become a four-year deal, provided Jamieson lands another supply contract with GNC.
In that case, there would also be a 50-cent wage increase on the fourth year.
Unifor Local 195 members working for Jamieson currently have an average hourly wage of $22.
The members went on strike last Sunday after they rejected the first agreement reached between the company and Unifor Local 195’s bargaining committee.
Round-the-clock picket lines were set up at the entrances of both the Jamieson properties in Windsor. The union warned that it was preparing for “the long haul.”
Farnham said Jamieson called union leadership around 6 p.m. Monday for a discussion about a protocol to let trucks through the picket lines.
That discussion turned into further contract negotiations.
“We were not going (to let the trucks in). Our position was to stand strong,” Farnham said. “I said to the employer ... ‘Let’s get back to the table.’”
It took about six hours of bargaining to come to the new deal.
“At the end of the day, we had to become creative to get this for the membership,” Farnham said.
Farnham said the strike action had a direct effect on the union winning new terms from Jamieson.
Unionized workers were expected to return to their jobs starting midnight Wednesday.
Asked if Unifor Local 195 has any worry about the picket lines giving the public a negative impression of the union, plant chairman Joseph Mikhail replied: “Everybody is entitled to their opinion.”
“If you work in this workplace, you know people are worked to the bone ... I think that when you put your 100 per cent out there, people expect more on the table.”
Not all Jamieson workers belong to Unifor Local 195. According to the company, 148 employees at the Windsor plants are not part of the unionized workforce.
Jamieson Laboratories Ltd. was first established as a company in 1922. Its properties in Windsor are its primary manufacturing and distribution facilities. Windsor made Jamieson products are sold in more than 30 countries around the world.