The 400 employees from three Montreal factories belonging to the industrial valve maker, Velan, are no longer locked out and are now back at work.
On Friday June 5, 2015, the Fédération de l’industrie manufacturière, a CSN-affiliated union, announced that its Montreal members voted 62 per cent in favour of a deal proposed by mediator Louise Létourneau. Workers in Granby approved the offer by 90 per cent. Létourneau was mandated by the Quebec labour minister to reach a compromise to end the lockout that began on May 25, days after workers rejected the employer’s final offer. Management proposed “a major change in flexibility of manpower,” the union said, which it worried meant layoffs.
The president of the Velan Montreal union, Jose Sousa, said he had “received satisfactory assurances on this issue” and said the union “compromised on certain points” but obtained an “honest” contract that allowed it to save jobs. The three-year deal will see a salary increase of 7.5 percent and improvements to the pension plan. It also includes the creation of a joint operational improvement committee that will coordinate the implementation of new work methods and training.