Workers at Titan Tool and Die in Windsor are rejecting a long list of concessions the employer is seeking in ongoing contract talks.
The workers, represented by Unifor Local 195, were given an update Tuesday on the state of contract talks as the bargaining team told the workers about 15 pages in concessions that the employer is seeking.
Unifor Local 195 President Emile Nabbout says normally in the bargaining process, they don't share information until there is a tentative deal, but with the employer failing to come to the table with a fair offer, they made the decision to let the membership know about the concessions being demanded.
"To see if our members, because the employers continue saying, 'Maybe some of the members are willing to take some of those concessions.' We tested the floor today, and we got a 100 per cent mandate from the members that concession is not an option," he says.
The rejected company offer included a three-year wage freeze, a new permanent lower wage grid for employees hired after ratification, the elimination of cost-of-living allowance and annual lump-sum wage supplements, and a reduction of company pension contributions from 7% to 5% for employees hired before October 2012. From 4% to 3% for employees hired after October 2012
The proposed concessions also included a new pension qualifier: the company contributes only if employees contribute despite a wage freeze. The combined effect of the company's pension demands could result in a loss of nearly $13,500 in pension contributions over a three-year contract, elimination of retirement health care benefits for those retiring at age 55+ with at least 10 years of service, and mandatory overtime.
The workers at the plant on Howard Avenue have been locked out since August 11 after contract talks failed.
Nabbout says they are at a stalemate with the employer, but they will continue trying to engage with them in the hope they change their position.
"From our perspective as a union, we are not changing where we stand today unless the company can come up with something to show us," he says. "At this point, we believe that the company's demands are unreasonable and continue to be unreasonable, and the union is not willing to take those concessions."
The union represents 60 members, with 27 active members and the rest laid off.
In March, union members blocked a transport from leaving Titan Tool and Die's main gates in April after they learned the company moved equipment across the border.
Lawyers for Titan argued for and received a Superior Court injunction preventing the union from further delaying trucks in April.
Then in mid-August, after contract talks failed, Titan locked the workers out. By mid-September, Unifor National staged a noisy rally in support of Titan workers.
Tempers flared afterwards, when Unifor members walked to Titan's subsidiary, Futura Tool and Die.
It is not unionized, and Unifor alleges the company is shifting production from Titan to Futura.
On September 23, Titan's lawyers returned to court and asked for an expanded injunction for 2801 Howard Avenue (Titan's secondary exit) as well as 305 Charles Street (Futura).
They said further delays in moving products would cause irreparable damage to their business.
On October 1, Justice Jasminka Kalajdzic ruled in favour of Titan.