Interview

Gino Ocampo, IBEW Local 213 Picket Captain

Solidarity picket at Ledcor Main Office in Vancouver in support of IBEW 213 members on strike against Ledcor Technical Services, November 21, 2019.

Gino Ocampo: In November 2017 we were granted certification from the Canada Industrial Relations Board. Negotiations were breaking down so we had mediation as well but the company wouldn't sign anything, even the union's basic human rights language. When the bargaining committee asked for a strike vote 79 per cent of us voted to strike. Shortly after that 31 of our colleagues were called randomly by their managers and told "Hey, you have to report back to the office. We have an update for you." So 31 of them walked in. They were asked to give their keys and company vehicles back, and the managers told them, basically, "get lost." Taxis were waiting to take them out. They were told "This is your last day, Sorry, we have no work for you." and that was the end of it. Most of our guys were scratching their heads, thinking "What did I do? What's going on here?"

This is day 70 of our strike. To date we have seen Ledcor Technical Services (LTS) opting to go for subcontractors instead of negotiating with us. Telus is subcontracting to LTS and LTS is subcontracting to others. They are being paid piece rate as well. They are not paid an hourly rate. They are all called self-employed. That's the way the industry is evolving right now, contractors and more contractors.

WF: Is Telus the main contractor for LTS work?

GO: Yes. Shaw is big here in the Lower Mainland but they do have unions entrenched in their company. They are more secure than we are. They are not allowed to hire subcontractors if they lay off their union employees. [...]

Ledcor has a corporate office in downtown Vancouver. That's where the main BC office is. We have had rallies there and we basically divided the picketing crew into two groups. One group in Coquitlam and the others, that live on the other side of the bridge, picket the main office. We rotate between morning and afternoon. We picket eight hours a day and everyone is welcome.

WF: What support do you have and what can people do to support you?

GO: Lots of people drop off hot coffees and cocoa from time to time which helps us. We are fighting for our rights and we appreciate the general public giving us whatever support they can. [...] The mayor visited us once, the President of the BC Federation of Labour came, and some councillors came to show support. We asked them to post pictures and information on their webpages or Facebook accounts to help to spread the word. We are not a big union. Given the current disputes going on in BC we are being overlooked, so nobody knows about our strike here.

We are asking people who are Telus customers and need technicians, please do not let a LTS contractor in, a LTS non-union employee. If you are a Telus subscriber do not let any Ledcor technicians into your place until we get a fair agreement. Telus has their own in-house technicians who are unionized, represented by United Steelworkers, but most of this work is being subcontracted. That's the nature of their business. It's a process of downgrading the union power. They are finding ways to get around the union workforce.

With Ledcor we work on a piece-work basis. If we don't work we don't get paid. Right now the health benefits of most of the strikers have been cut off because we are on strike. We are getting basically minimum wages right now with strike pay, without any health benefits, so we are left to our own devices. Most of us are in a really precarious state right now. Most of us, as you can see, are immigrants. That's what the big companies are doing right now. Hiring newcomers into Canada so that when you get rid of them no one will complain. I came to Canada 11 years ago and have seen that unions get a bad rap. I have seen the rank and file go down, having bad press. We're just fighting for basic human rights of better wages, better living conditions. [...]

We are skilled workers. We were trained by the original Telus employees, for months on end, and we are basically the best of the group. The people you see here are the ones that are left, they couldn't get rid of us that easily because we are the highest performing technicians...

The three big companies have a monopoly. A couple of years ago a U.S. company wanted to enter Canada, ads were on the TV saying be patriotic, don't let any other companies get into Canada, it will destroy the Canadian industry. But what are they doing to us? They are taking advantage of their workers. They are taking advantage of their customers. Something has to give.

WF: How many workers are on strike, how many are employed by Ledcor?

GO: We are several hundred, divided into different departments. We have the technicians and we have what we call the MxU, the built-in. What happened to the built-in is they were part of our collective and they were part of the strike vote. They voted yes. But when the union asked for the actual strike they opted to cross the line, so our number was diminished from 100 plus, we are now left with just over 60. So that's a big blow for us, seeing our colleagues cross the picket line. It really hampers our power to negotiate. As you can see on the information board, 48 per cent are on strike and 52 per cent are working because they already laid off 31 of us. You should be on the right side of history when you are writing your own history. Will you be that guy that stabbed your own colleague in the back or will you be the one who stood up and fought for your colleagues? That's why we are asking people to tell Telus that they won't allow an LTS technician into their home.

(Photo: R. Nedila)

This article was published in

Number 31 - December 19, 2019

Article Link:
Interview: Gino Ocampo, IBEW Local 213 Picket Captain

    

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