Another 180 or so Hudbay tradespeople this week voted on an offer from the company that was expected to win membership approval.
Unions representing Hudbay electrical workers, carpenters and boilermakers were scheduled to conclude ratification voting last night, after The Reminder went to press. Results were expected to be made public this morning.
“Our feeling is that it probably will be accepted just from feedback we got at the [information] meetings, but anything can happen, right?” Jim Quinn, who is on the bargaining team for the unions, said Wednesday evening.
The bargaining team recommended members ratify the offer, which boosts hourly wages by $4 over the three-year life of the agreement. There is also a $500 signing bonus.
Quinn said the offer is “pretty comparable” to the one Hudbay’s two USW unions recently ratified, though he wasn’t sure whether USW got some of the same language improvements in their offer.
Quinn said the offer also boosts the travel and book allowance for electrical, carpenter and boilermaker apprentices.
Ratification of the offer by the three unions would bring over 80 per cent of Hudbay’s unionized workforce under contract until the end of 2017.
It would also leave the power engineers’ union and the striking IAM Local 1848 as the only unions without new deals.
Hudbay and the power engineers are scheduled to meet with a conciliator the week of June 22. It’s not known when IAM and Hudbay may meet again.
IAM signalled this week that it would not accept an offer that raises wages by $4 an hour, as the USW unions have done. Such a raise works out to over $8,000 a year, before taxes and excluding overtime.
“It’s unfortunate that some [unions] have signed for only scraps and trimmings, while the entire steak still remained on the table,” IAM said on its website.
IAM also appeared to encourage electrical workers, carpenters and boilermakers to reject the offer even though their bargaining team recommended it.
“Help us win this fight. Together we can do better. Together, this fight will be won faster,” said the union. “We cannot accept second class wages.”
IAM further expressed concern over language in its previous deal with Hudbay that “must be changed so we can keep our jobs” rather than see them go to contractors.
Hudbay has defended its offer to its unions as fair, and says its use of contractors is valid and does not deter the company from hiring employees.
Editor’s Note: Previous articles stated that the electrical, carpenter and boilermaker unions represent about 159 workers, but Quinn put the number at about 180. The initial number was based on a calculation that used figures supplied by other unions and Hudbay’s own figure as to how many unionized employees it has.
