Rogers Vancouver and Surrey Bargaining Update #4 - Monday, June 5, 2023

Hello Brother and Sisters,

At the beginning of bargaining, we committed to keeping you informed about how bargaining was progressing and, in that vein, here is where we currently find ourselves.

We have now met with the Company’s committee for 13 days. As we said in updates two and three, despite the new company name and branding, we’re in fact still dealing with the same Shaw faces as usual. They have mentioned the need to align with the new Rogers way, they are focused on the same erosions as they have in previous rounds under the Shaw banner. This position could very well push us down a similar path to the one we travelled down together in 2018, where Unit 60 members were rock solid in their insistence on job security and ready to hit the streets – an outcome that was narrowly avoided at the 11th hour.

Rogers is looking to erode many of the protections that Unit 60 members have fought hard for over the decades. Your committee is focused on securing our work for decades to come by ensuring our collective agreement includes ironclad language spelling out clear jurisdictional boundaries in respect to our employer’s insistence on their need for contractors. At the Table, they have expressed the increased difficulty they have been experiencing in procuring temporary contractors as the contracting companies are now “looking for commitments to offer their workers” in order to sign a contract with Rogers. It goes without saying that this will not come at the expense of Unit 60 members and their families!

Here are some of the proposals that Rogers currently has in play:
• Capping stat holidays;
• Eroding the CPE protections won in the last round of bargaining;
• Increasing the weeks that vacation would be limited below 35%, including Christmas and Spring Break;
• Allowing managers to withhold your wage progressions;
• Keeping discipline on file permanently;
• Precluding you from participating fully in Union opportunities;
• Only providing the minimum layoff recall period;
• Allowing for increased contractor use with their definition of construction being wildly expanded to include almost everything;
• Eroding Journeymen’s jurisdiction.

As is the norm in contract negotiations, it is much too early for wage increases to have been introduced.

Your Committee will not accept that the Employer needs these concessions to stay viable and competitive. We are well aware of the commitments to Canadians and Canadian communities that Rogers had to make in order to have this takeover of Shaw approved. We believe that some of that promised money should and can come to you in the way of protection and compensation.

Please continue to pay attention to your CAT messaging and prepare for upcoming town hall meeting invitations and other opportunities to participate in solidarity actions.

Thank you for your continued support.

#OurWorkYourFuture

In solidarity,
Your Unit 60 Bargaining Team