THUNDER BAY – Striking inspectors seeking a first contract from Ontario’s Technical Standards and Safety Authority held an afternoon picket on Wednesday outside the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition on its opening day.
About 170 members across the province, including four in Thunder Bay, say negotiations, which began in March 2021 when workers at TSSA, which oversees inspections on amusement rides, ski lifts and elevators, voted to unionize.
Leo Tuussa, the strike captain with OPSEU Local 546 – TSSA bargaining unit, said workers only want a fair deal.
He doesn’t believe the company is all that interested in coming to an agreement anytime soon.
“It’s extremely frustrating. The company has basically ignored the union and tried to undermine the union’s efforts in getting a fair deal for our members. They’ve sent several contract offers to the members behind the union’s back.”
Tuussa said union members were left with no choice but to walk off the job.
“We’re out here today because OPSEU and our bargaining team is bargaining with TSSA for a first collective agreement. We went through 18 months of negotiations with TSSA and we were unable to achieve a first agreement,” Tuussa said on Wednesday afternoon.
“We went to conciliation and mediation and because we couldn’t get a contract, we’re out on strike.”
While the strike isn’t completely shutting down inspections – company management is operating with a skeleton crew to ensure public safety, including inspections on the rides at the CLE – it’s certainly slowing things down.
The picket at the CLE’s entrance was scheduled to be a one-day demonstration in a high-visibility spot.
According to an OPSEU release, TSSA walked away from contract talks on July 20, leading workers to walk off the job on July 21.
“It is unconscionable that the TSSA is willing to compromise the public safety of all Ontarians rather than provide safety inspectors with fair working conditions,” said OPSEU/SEFPO president JP Hornick, in the release.
“What these workers are asking for is reasonable. They want improved accountability for public safety standards and practices from the TSSA. They want wages and benefits consistent with industry standards, to help address understaffing issues and improve retention and recruitment. They want to have a stronger voice in their workplace as frontline experts in their field.”
The company responded by saying it offered a contract with “excellent” health, dental and pension benefits, along with salary increases for a multi-year agreement.
The company did not disclose what those salary increases would be under their proposed deal.
“Given the reasonable and fair contract we have offered and our availability for ongoing discussions, TSSA does not see why inspectors have chosen to go on strike,” said Laura Desjardins, vice-president of human resources at TSSA.
“Our approach is to bargain in good faith, reach a fair agreement and avoid any disruption. Unfortunately, the union stopped negotiating directly with TSSA after the first few meetings and gave indications of their strike intentions. We are concerned with OPSEU’s deliberately false communications that suggest we are not bargaining in good faith.”
The union is holding rotating pickets throughout Ontario during the strike.
