Latest news with #InternationalUnionOfOperatingEngineers
CBC
10-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Hamilton water workers ratify tentative agreement with City of Hamilton
The near-three-month strike between Hamilton water workers and the City of Hamilton ended Monday when the union and employer reached a tentative agreement. On Wednesday, workers ratified that deal. The agreement will go before City Council for approval on July 16, the City said on its website Wednesday. Greg Hoath, business manager with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 772, told CBC Hamilton Tuesday he hoped members would approve the deal. Water workers took to the picket line May 14 after negotiations with the city fell through. The workers, who oversee the water purifying process as well as the discharge of waste water, said they wanted to address decades-old concerns. One was the length of time it takes to reach their top pay rate through on-the-job training. The other was a pay gap that left some members earning about $4 less per hour than another group of workers with fewer certifications, workers told CBC Hamilton. On Tuesday, Hoath said that while he could not disclose what's in the tentative agreement, it's "improved from the previous position of the city." "This labour disruption was really over one issue of pay equity or parity," he said. "We are at least going to have the opportunity to address that question and have it answered once and for all." Mayor Andrea Horwath said Tuesday the "deal reflects our city's commitment to fairness, fiscal responsibility and respect for our workers." Both sides say ready to return to work despite tense strike Hoath acknowledged a "fractious" relationship between strikers and the City. Workers disrupted council meetings and Hoath said the city threatened the union, calling their picketing outside transit facilities unlawful. However, he said members won't let hard feelings affect their return to work. "They will go back to work and do their job. This is water and waste water. We're not going to play around with something as important as those services for the public," Hoath said. City manager Marnie Cluckie shared a similar sentiment in an email to CBC Hamilton Tuesday, saying the employer values the workers and "remains committed to fostering a positive, respectful, and collaborative working relationship." Two other groups of strikers in Hamilton also recently reached deals. Members of the Ontario Compensation Employees Union on strike from the Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board approved a tentative agreement Monday. They had been picketing since May 22. Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 2073 members voted to ratify a new collective agreement with Canadian Hearing Services. They had been on strike since April 28.
CBC
12-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
One year later: N.S. graduates dozens of new paramedics, emergency medical responders
A year into its efforts to beef up recruitment of paramedics and emergency medical responders by offering free tuition to students, the province says it's starting to see the fruits of its labour. Jeff Fraser, the senior executive director for Emergency Health Services at the Department of Health, said Monday that recent numbers showed vacancy rates had been cut in half in April 2025 compared to the previous April. "We're really happy with the results we've seen to date," Fraser told CBC's Information Morning Nova Scotia. Through its incentive program, the province offered to cover the full tuition for more than 460 people who wanted to train to become a primary care paramedic or an emergency medical responder. In exchange, graduates have to agree to stay in the province and work — paramedics for four years and emergency medical responders for two. To date, 119 paramedics and 37 emergency medical responders have completed their training and are working in the field, said Fraser. He said the province has awarded a total of 319 bursaries, 259 for would-be paramedics and 60 for emergency medical responders. "We're seeing a big difference," said Kevin MacMullin, the business manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 727, which represents paramedics in Nova Scotia. "We've now got schools in places like Yarmouth where we never had a class before and that's important because people in that region can't always travel up to Halifax and stay in the Halifax region and take the primary care program," he told Information Morning on Thursday. Both programs offer class time and hands-on learning in the field, with the paramedic training lasting 50 weeks and the emergency medical responder training covering three months. Emergency medical responders are trained to work alongside paramedics to provide basic emergency care. They can also assist with hospital patient transfers and in the offload areas in emergency departments. "There's usually a backup of paramedics waiting to get offloaded and that's one of our primary disadvantages at the present time because we want to get our trucks back out on the road where they should be to respond to emergencies," said MacMullin. The province will continue to offer the incentive program this year into the next, said Fraser. "That will bring us the stability in our workforce," he said. "We'll continue to re-evaluate and make recommendations to government as time goes on."
Washington Post
28-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump pardons a labor union leader on the eve of sentencing for failing to report gifts
WASHINGTON — A labor union leader who pleaded guilty to failing to report gifts from an advertising firm was pardoned by President Donald Trump on the eve of his sentencing hearing Wednesday, court records show. James Callahan, of Lindenhurst, New York, was general president of the International Union of Operating Engineers when he accepted — but failed to properly report — receiving at least $315,000 in tickets to sporting events and concerts and other amenities from a company that the union used to place ads.
Associated Press
28-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Trump pardons a labor union leader on the eve of sentencing for failing to report gifts
WASHINGTON (AP) — A labor union leader who pleaded guilty to failing to report gifts from an advertising firm was pardoned by President Donald Trump on the eve of his sentencing hearing Wednesday, court records show. James Callahan, of Lindenhurst, New York, was general president of the International Union of Operating Engineers when he accepted — but failed to properly report — receiving at least $315,000 in tickets to sporting events and concerts and other amenities from a company that the union used to place ads. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes was scheduled to sentence Callahan on Wednesday. On Tuesday, however, Callahan's attorneys notified the court of Trump's 'full and unconditional' pardon and asked for the sentencing hearing to be vacated. Ed Martin Jr., now the Justice Department's pardon attorney, was acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia when Callahan pleaded guilty on Jan. 29 to knowingly filing false annual reports with the U.S. Labor Department. Callahan's lawyers and a spokesperson for Martin didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Earlier this month, prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six months for Callahan, calling him 'one of the most powerful union leaders in the country.' They said Callahan's salary and other compensation topped $500,000 annually. Now retired and living in Florida, he has a net worth of more than $5 million, according to prosecutors. 'That the Operating Engineers were unknowingly funding Defendant Callahan's spree of pricey entertainments — a lifestyle his substantial salary could easily accommodate — is especially condemning,' they wrote. Callahan's plea agreement required him to repay the union $315,000 for the tickets and to immediately resign as union president. 'Those tickets and amenities properly belonged to the Operating Engineers, and yet Defendant Callahan used many of those tickets personally and provided other tickets to members of his family and persons who were not members of the Operating Engineers,' prosecutors wrote. The Washington-based union that Callahan led represents nearly 400,000 heavy machinery operators on construction and industrial sites throughout the United States and Canada.
CBC
21-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Sewage smell outside Hamilton water treatment plant concerns striking workers
Social Sharing For 55 water and wastewater operators in Hamilton, being on strike stinks — literally. Workers with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 772 have been off the job since May 14, picketing at different locations including the major wastewater treatment plant on Woodward Avenue. On Tuesday, the union shared a message on social media stating that an odour-detection system at the plant had failed and might be affecting the Parkview neighbourhood where the plant is located. CBC Hamilton visited the picket line Tuesday afternoon and detected a stink along Woodward Avenue in front of the plant that was particularly strong by the plant's north gate. Workers on strike said that's unusual and a sign of something not working correctly. "It's raw sewage. That's what you're smelling," Greg Hoath, a business manager with the union told CBC Hamilton. "Normally you don't smell anything." While they don't have first-hand knowledge of what's happening inside, Hoath said based on what they know about the plant, the smell is a sign that things inside are not running as they should without his colleagues at their posts. Hoath and his fellow members say they worry there could be an important system failure with negative consequences for the community's health and the environment. City says 'no risk' to water safety Nick Winters, who directs Hamilton Water, told CBC Hamilton there have been "no abnormal odour issues at the Woodward facility in recent weeks and all of the facility's odour control systems are operating properly." Wastewater treatment "inherently generates odours," Winters said in an email Wednesday. "On average, we receive 13 odour complaints annually at the Woodward facility. Odours can be more prominent when winds are blowing from Lake Ontario westerly across the city." The city has also said the strike poses "no risk" to the quality of safety of drinking water, and services continue uninterrupted. "We want to assure residents that contingency plans are in place, and city staff are working hard to maintain safe and uninterrupted operation of our water and wastewater systems," Marnie Cluckie, Hamilton's city manager said in an email. "This includes redeploying non-union management staff with years of experience." Winters added that staff have "worked diligently" to prepare for a strike scenario with contingency plans reviewed and approved by Ontario's Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. "Although there are currently 55 unionized members currently on strike, it's important to note that the city's water and wastewater facilities normally have about 15 operators working on any given weekday, with a significantly smaller number working overnight and on holidays," he said. CBC Hamilton could not detect a sewage smell in the neighbourhood immediately east of the plant Tuesday. Area councillor Tammy Hwang (Ward 4) said her office had received one complaint about the smell that day. "We respect the [union members] who are using their legal right to strike and we hope that all can come to a fair agreement/resolution as soon as possible," she said. Residents who would like to complain about the smell from the plant can call 905-546-2424, extension 1086, she added. Robert Haller, who directs the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association, told CBC Hamilton he thinks managers are capable of maintaining basic services. Haller represents the City of Hamilton to the federal government and said he has no comment on the labour dispute. "Longer term maintenance, growth and larger repair is best handled by the more specialized operators, but I think the residents of Hamilton can feel assured that their water is safe," he said in an email. "These managers weren't born as managers – most worked their way up through the utilities, most being fully qualified engineers." Managers would be expected to understand the duties of their crews, he said, adding most systems are highly automated and monitored. "This will mean long hours for management, but I would expect that many a manager is still capable of jumping into a ditch to repair a broken pipe if necessary." Talks break down A week into the strike, morale among members was high, Hoath said, noting the union had a 100 per cent support for its strike vote and were prepared to walk. "There is absolutely no way they're not struggling," he said of the managers doing operators' jobs. "We know how hard it is." Hoath said he hasn't heard from the city about more negotiations since around the second day of the strike, when they told him they weren't prepared to discuss money. "That's the only issue on the table. So, there was nothing to talk about," he said. Striking workers are calling on the City of Hamilton to close a pay gap they say leaves some of them earning about $4 less than another group of workers with fewer certifications. That group can reach their highest pay rate in fewer years and with fewer training hours, members say. The union wants a six-per-cent pay increase over four years to close the gap. Members say that would cost the city around $1,000 per day. The city said on its website, in an update on May 15, that its "offer was consistent with agreements negotiated with other City employee groups" and that it "remains committed to the collective bargaining process." Tom Shields, an operator who works at a facility in Dundas, said he normally oversees over 70 pump stations and eight combined sewer overflows between Ancaster and Puslinch, Ont. Shields was part of a picket line around city hall on Tuesday morning. He said every worker on the line would rather be doing their job than striking, "but if we don't, every year we get further and further behind, so it's not fair." Water issues in east Hamilton This week, striking workers also pointed to maintenance issues in east Hamilton yesterday as evidence of the city's inability to manage the system without them. But the city disputed that claim. Winters said Wednesday Hamilton Water repaired a watermain break near Mohawk Road E., and Upper Sherman Ave that morning. He said the city is investigating additional watermain breaks in this same area today at 872 and 894 Upper Gage Ave that may have caused some residents to lose water pressure. "Unfortunately watermain breaks do occur periodically for various reasons. The city can confirm there is no relation to these watermain breaks and the ongoing... labour disruption," Winters said. He noted Hamilton Water is also reporting lower water pressure for some residents in Stoney Creek but said that issue is related to planned watermain work and is also unrelated to the strike.
