In front of the company’s headquarters in Halifax, the workers distributed heart shaped chocolates to managers and other employees as they entered the building. The workers hoped their gesture will be seen as an expression of their heartfelt desire to reach a negotiated settlement with IMP Group Limited.

“We are hoping the company will realize the benefits of open and positive negotiations with the employees’ union,” said Greg Isberg, president of PSAC Union Local 21018 in Comox, British Columbia. Isberg is also a member of the PSAC negotiating team at IMP Group Limited. “We want to maintain peaceful and harmonious relationships with the company, but management seems intended in creating a confrontation,” he added.

After 5 months of negotiations, the company has agreed to settle only minor topics while the important issues of the collective agreement remain unresolved. The PSAC had to ask the federal government to appoint a conciliation officer because of the lack of progress in the bargaining process. The negotiations with the conciliation started in Halifax on February 12, 2007

IMP Group Limited has a contract with the National Defense to maintain and repair Canadian search and rescue Cormorant helicopters. On February 6 and 7, the PSAC members set up information picket lines in front of three plants of the IMP Group Limited in Comox, B.C., Trenton, ON and Gander in NFLD expressing their frustration over management’s attitude towards collective bargaining.

The workers feel that they provide Canadians with an important service: the maintenance and repair of search and rescue Cormorant helicopters. They are highly skilled and dedicated workers and they are currently the only ones with the skills to maintain and repair Cormorant helicopters in Canada. They want to ensure the safety of Canadian citizens who find themselves in need of search and rescues services and of the brave men and women of the Armed Forces who risk their lives on a daily basis “So Others May Live”, the motto of the Search and Rescue Technicians of the Air Force.

PSAC members employed at IMP Group Limited set up information lines at the gates of CFB Comox in the early mornings of Feb. 6th and 7th. These members were informing their co-workers of the lack of progress five months of negotiations have achieved. The PSAC has recently asked the federal government to appoint a conciliation officer in an effort to speed up the bargaining process.

Each morning we set up the information lines at 06:30 hrs and the member participation was outstanding. The Commissionaires, the Military Police and members of the military with their loaded guns, greeted us each morning. Turns out the military was also conducting an identification search at the same time as our plant gate. This actually turned out to be a benefit for our members as the military was slowing traffic making it easier for us to distribute the over 400 flyers each day.

The weather on the second day turned a little nasty (rain and wind) however it did not dilute the members resolve. We had traffic backed up for about one mile and the people traveling to work were extremely supportive. A local Victoria radio station CFAX 1070 did a brief report on the Tuesday morning activities.

Our line was supported by Greg Isberg, Dayna Martin, George Rapin (members responsible for IMP negotiations), Randy Stevens (UNDE Local President 21007), Mark Miller (Alternate RVP - UNDE) and Gail Jewsbury (North Island Regional Council Member). All in all, this was a great exercise and a really good demonstration of the members resolves to continue their fight for a fair and decent contract.

Update, Feb 9: thanks to Mark Miller, Pres. UNDE 21016, for these photos. Click on them for a larger view.

“Our members perform work that is of great importance to the safety and security of many Canadians,” said PSAC National President John Gordon. “IMP management should do everything they can to resolve the labour problems within the company and to develop harmonious work relations with the employees.”

For Gordon, the time has come for IMP management to learn how to deal fairly with its unionized workforce. “Many Canadian companies deal with unions representing their employees,” he said, “and in doing so they are able to ensure labour peace in their workplaces. IMP should do the same.”

PSAC members at IMP have been trying for 5 months to negotiate a collective agreement with their employer. Recently the PSAC had to ask the federal government to appoint a conciliation officer because of the lack of progress in the bargaining process.

“Too often, we have heard the employer’s representatives tell us that they didn’t know what to do at the bargaining table,” said Greg Isberg, president of one of the PSAC Union Locals which represent IMP workers at the company’s three plants in Gander, Newfoundland; Trenton, Ontario and Comox,British Columbia. “We are only trying to get a fair and reasonable collective agreement. It looks like the employer does not want to be part of the bargaining process.”

PSAC members working at IMP are highly skilled and dedicated workers. They are currently the only ones with the skills to maintain and repair Cormorant helicopters in Canada. They want to ensure not only the safety of Canadian citizens who find themselves in need of search and rescues services but also the safety of the brave men and women of the Armed Forces who risk their lives on a daily basis “So Others May Live” (the motto of the Search and Rescue Technicians of the Air Force).

The first meeting with the conciliation officer appointed by the federal government will be held in Halifax on February 12, 2007.