Workers' Actions in Defence of Rights
Solidarity Action for Striking Ledcor Workers
- Roland Verrier -
Workers on strike against Ledcor Technical Services (LTS) were joined
on their picket lines outside the LTS production facility in Coquitlam
and the Ledcor head office in downtown Vancouver by dozens of
supporters on September 30. That day was the first anniversary of
the start of the strike by members of IBEW Local 213. The
year has been marked by expressions of support and solidarity from the
New Westminster and District Labour Council, which was the main
organizer of the September 30 action, as well as the BC Building
Trades, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1944, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the BC Teachers'
Federation, the Hospital Employees' Union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and others. Besides the
workers who joined the picket lines with their union flags and banners,
dozens more joined a caravan of cars in response to the call of the
local and the labour council.
 The
workers at Ledcor and their supporters make the point that what is
happening in the telecommunications industry with monopolies like Telus
and "subcontractors" like Ledcor, which are contracted to do some of the
fibre optic cable installations that Telus employees also do, is
happening in other industries as well. The contractor's
workforce is unorganized, paid at piece work rates that the company can
unilaterally change, pressured to work at an unsafe pace, without
stable and predictable schedules, disciplined or even terminated
without recourse. Besides the toll this takes on the workers
themselves, this arrangement is used to put downward pressure on the
wages and
working conditions of the Telus employees who are members of USW Local 1944. The Ledcor workers organized so that they
could act collectively to improve their conditions. As one of the
striking workers put it, "We are not just fighting for me or the guy
next to me. We are fighting for the technician in five years from today
and the
technician 15 years from today."
Throughout the strike the company has been using scabs to do the
work of the striking workers which it claims is legal because the
telecommunications industry is federally regulated and federal law does
not prohibit the use of scabs. The union is asking that Telus
customers requesting installation of residential or business
telephones,
Internet, television, or alarms "insist that the services be provided
by unionized Telus employees.
Customers might have to wait a bit longer for their service, but they
will have less risk of damage to their homes or businesses, and support
striking IBEW Local 213 workers at the same time."
The union's request for the Canada Labour Board to intervene and
settle the terms and conditions of a first collective agreement is to
be heard by the board this month. Until that time everyone is
encouraged to continue to support the demands of the striking Ledcor
workers through sharing information on social media and joining them on
their
picket lines at Ledcor's new production facility at 2120 Vintner Street
in Port Moody or Ledcor's corporate office at 1055 W. Hastings Street
in Vancouver.  
 
This article was published in
Number 71 - October 20, 2020
Article Link:
Workers' Actions in Defence of Rights: Solidarity Action for Striking Ledcor Workers - Roland Verrier
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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