Union claims government told striking Hwy 413 engineers they can’t return to work

The national representing striking authorities engineers successful Ontario is filing a labour ailment aft it says the Ford government told members who had stopped moving connected Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass they wouldn’t beryllium allowed to instrumentality to their jobs.

The Professional Engineers Government of Ontario national said it had removed large method engineers it represents from cardinal authorities infrastructure projects earlier successful the week arsenic it continues an ongoing declaration conflict with the province.

The move, the national said, would hold the transportation of the cardinal infrastructure projects and is designed to gully attraction to the astir 2 years its members person been without a contract.

But, days aft the engineers stopped moving connected cardinal projects, the authorities made a bid of changes.

Those who had walked disconnected the occupation were told they couldn’t instrumentality to enactment until the state said truthful oregon a caller corporate statement was signed. An email was besides sent to each national members telling them if they stopped working, they excessively would beryllium prevented from returning.

The national believes the determination is simply a contravention of however labour laws are expected to work.

“From our perspective, though the authorities hasn’t utilized the word ‘lockout,’ it surely feels similar it for those circumstantial members,” PEGO president Nihar Bhatt told Global News.

“They’ve been told that since they person withdrawn their services, the lone mode they tin instrumentality is if the authorities says so. And we judge that is simply a usurpation of the Labour Relations Act and it’s an unlawful mode of dealing with them.”

The national said it was filing a ailment with the Ontario Labour Relations Board for an unlawful lockout connected Friday.

A spokesperson for the president of the treasury board, who leads negotiations for the government, said the determination was modular practice.

“Employees represented by PEGO who person decided to afloat retreat their services person been reminded of the applicable presumption and conditions of their employment,” they told Global News.

“Like immoderate worker who refuses to work, PEGO employees who garbage to enactment volition not beryllium paid. This is simply a modular measurement to negociate the workplace and provides the leader with greater certainty and the quality to conscionable operational needs.”

PEGO represents engineers who enactment successful elder roles for the Ontario authorities crossed a fig of areas. They negociate its 400-series road network, enactment connected the gathering and occurrence codification and execute oversight roles for h2o and aerial prime testing.

The national has been without a declaration for 22 months and claims the offers from the authorities to day person fallen good abbreviated of wherever they should.

Calculations relied upon by PEGO for technologist salaries crossed the sector, including different nationalist organizations similar Infrastructure and Metrolinx, permission galore of its members down their peers. The national has complained it struggles to clasp experienced unit who often permission to instrumentality jobs successful the backstage sector.

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said successful a connection that the authorities should enactment rapidly to scope a deal.

“These engineers are liable for ensuring that $85 cardinal worthy of nationalist infrastructure is harmless and reliable, but they’re not being valued by the Ford government,” she said. “It’s clip for the authorities to get backmost to the array and negociate a just woody for the engineers.”

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria hinted earlier successful the week that the authorities could escalate its combat with the union, aft threats to its cardinal road projects.

“We’re looking astatine mitigation measures, but fto maine beryllium clear,” helium said successful a connection connected Monday, “we’re moving afloat velocity ahead. This task is excessively important not to physique and we are moving up without delay.”

Nihar said it was excessively soon to spot precisely what interaction removing labour from Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass would person but said helium wanted to absorption connected negotiations truthful his members could instrumentality to helping the authorities build.

“In bid for these things to beryllium successful, it requires the beingness and oversight of Ministry of Transportation engineers — for example, those experts and elder experts who person the background, and those radical are not successful the workplace,” Bhatt said.

“Even if they bring idiosyncratic other successful from our ain radical oregon determination else, it takes respective weeks, sometimes months, to familiarize themselves. Once again, it is an unnecessary delay.”

The national said it had sent further bargaining dates but hasn’t heard from the government.

“The parties are discussing further dates,” the treasury committee spokesperson said.