National

Locked out Rogers Communications workers in B.C. ratify five-year contract

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 21 Nov, 2023 04:39 PM

Nearly 300 Rogers Communications workers have voted strongly in favour of a new contract, ending a company lockout that began two weeks ago.

The United Steelworkers union Local 1944, Unit 60, says in a statement that its members voted 96 per cent in favour of ratifying the tentative agreement reached last Friday.

The Rogers technicians, who build, maintain and repair internet, phone and television infrastructure and services in Metro Vancouver, were locked out Nov. 6, after serving strike notice and announcing plans for rotating strikes.

The union statement says the new five-year contract contains a 14.25-per-cent wage increase, retroactive pay, a $1,000 signing bonus and language that offers protection against automation and layoffs.

Technicians are due to return to the job on Wednesday.

A statement from Rogers Communications says the company is pleased the agreement has been ratified, saying the pact will "grow jobs" and "meet the needs of customers."

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations up 58% in two weeks, as infections, deaths also spike

COVID-19 cases are on the rise in British Columbia, with the BC Centre for Disease Control reporting hospitalizations have increased 58 per cent in the past two weeks. The centre says in its latest update that deaths due to COVID-19 are also trending upwards, with 24 fatalities in the last week of September, compared to nine in the second week of August.

B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations up 58% in two weeks, as infections, deaths also spike

Spike in Vancouver's homeless count

The count by the Homelessness Services Association of B-C was done on March 7th and 8th -- and identified just under five thousand people in 11 communities, up from the roughly 36-hundred identified in the March 2020 count.

Spike in Vancouver's homeless count

Surrey business community grapples with police tax

Business leaders in Surrey are pleading with the province to provide a clear plan as the city grapples with the next stage of implementing a new police force. The Surrey Board of Trade has sent a letter to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth saying the city needs a solid policing strategy with adequate wraparound support services and infrastructure as it juggles the costs of the outgoing R-C-M-P and incoming Surrey Police Service.

Surrey business community grapples with police tax

B.C. sets out law to ban use of illegal drugs in many public places

British Columbia is setting out new rules as it attempts to navigate a way to curb the overdose crisis with drug decriminalization. Possession of small amounts of many illicit drugs was decriminalized in B.C. in January after the federal government issued an exemption, but legislation introduced by the province today would make their use illegal in many public spaces.

B.C. sets out law to ban use of illegal drugs in many public places

'Extremely fluid': Liberals and NDP haven't yet agreed on promised pharmacare bill

The federal New Democrats have rejected the first draft of the Liberals' pharmacare legislation, in what the health minister describes as "extremely fluid" negotiations over the highly anticipated bill. The Liberals promised to table pharmacare legislation this fall as part of the supply-and-confidence deal the government struck with the NDP.

'Extremely fluid': Liberals and NDP haven't yet agreed on promised pharmacare bill

Victoria police looking for suspects in possible arson

Police in Victoria say they're looking for two women who may have seen the suspect or suspects in a possible arson over the weekend. They say officers responded Saturday evening to reports of two fires inside a retail store, where staff used fire extinguishers to douse the initial flames.