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Hydro strike looms in Manitoba
Last Updated Sun, 11 Jun 2006 16:21:33 EDT

Manitoba Hydro's 500,000 customers will likely be grappling with a strike on Monday, the union for the utility's workers warned on the weekend.

Leaders from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Manitoba Hydro are set to meet Monday morning at 8 a.m. CDT , said the union's business manager, Wally Chuda.

The union expects to give the government-owned utility two hours notice of a strike, Chuda said.

The union, which represents about 2,500 utility workers, has already received a strike vote supported by 85 per cent of its members.

The union members have been without a contract since May 31. They are primarily seeking better benefits and pensions than the utility has offered so far.

On Friday, the union said in a statement that there had been "no real improvements" in Manitoba Hydro's offer, warning that the negotiating team "felt that talks had stalled."

The union gave the company 48 hours in strike notice, agreeing not to walk out until after 8 a.m Monday.

Would keep hospitals running if on strike

Hydro officials indicated some non-essential services would be affected if the workers did strike.

In the event of a strike, the union would make members available to work during power outages in large residential areas or to maintain power at hospitals and other essential services.

Manitoba Hydro reported a profit of $296 million for the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2005, compared with $51 million for the same nine-month period in 2004.

The higher profit resulted from higher sales, which were $1.48 billion in 2005, compared with $1.16 billion in 2004.

There has never been a strike at Manitoba Hydro.

They reached a deal, the strike has been avoided. :)

Strike averted at Manitoba Hydro
Last Updated Jun 12 2006 02:48 PM CDT
CBC News
A strike at Manitoba Hydro was averted Monday after management and union officials worked out a new contract deal hours after a deadline set for a walkout, CBC News has learned.

"There's a general sense of relief of course that we won't be facing a strike situation and that we can get on with the business at hand," Manitoba Hydro spokesman Glenn Schneider told reporters in Winnipeg.

"It was a tough fight on both sides and we think we got a pretty good contract," said Wally Chudo, a spokesman with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The union, which represents 2,800 workers at the government-owned utility, had been without a contract since the end of May and the two sides had been negotiating since November.

A strike could have caused service disruptions for some of the utility's 500,000 customers.

The deal came about after progress was made by midday on the area of employee pensions. That was followed by agreement on other contentious issues such as statutory holidays and travel allowances.

Must ratify deal

The deal must now be voted on by union members in a process that could take six weeks, Chudo said.

The union had threatened a strike deadline of 10 a.m. CDT, but that deadline came and went while the talks continued.

Manitoba Hydro, which has never had a strike, had prepared contingency plans in case of any labour disruption. Those arrangements included a deal with the union to prevent any major power disruptions at essential services such as fire and ambulance stations and hospitals.

There has never been a strike at Manitoba Hydro.

Manitoba Hydro reported a profit of $296 million for the nine months ending Dec. 31, 2005, compared with $51 million for the same nine-month period in 2004.

The higher profit resulted from higher sales, which were $1.48 billion in 2005, compared with $1.16 billion in 2004.

well that's good I'm sure if they did walk out, I'm sure many many people in the province would have been left in the dark for the most part if they did.