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Workers rafity new collective agreement at Labatt to end eleven month strike

“This is an incredible story that a small group of 45 workers in St. John’s would receive such international attention and solidarity from workers as far away as Argentina, Australia, Belgium, the United States, and across Canada. We are very grateful for the support that helped our workers through this difficult time." — Carol Furlong, NAPE President.

St. John's (10 Feb. 2014) — Striking workers at the Labatt plant in St. John’s, Newfoundland have voted to accept a new collective agreement, ending an eleven month strike. The workers are members of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE/NUPGE).

Workers have been on strike for eleven months after company proposed major concessions during bargaining

According to NAPE President Carol Furlong, the union and the employer, with assistance of a conciliation officer, have dedicated the past two months to finding a settlement to the ongoing dispute.

“It was a difficult round of bargaining as was evident by the job action taken by the 45 employees,” said Furlong. “Ultimately, both parties were successful in finding resolutions to many complex issues during this round of collective bargaining.”

The new collective agreement will expire March 2020. The workers will be heading back to work as early as Tuesday of next week.

Boycott, both in Newfoundland and across the country, had significant impact on settlement; Boycott now lifted

The union is now lifting the boycott on Labatt products that has been in effect since June. Furlong said, “We believe the support from the people of our province for the boycott had a significant impact on the outcome and we are very appreciative of that support. We hope that the public will continue that show of support for those workers and return to purchasing Labatt products.”

“This is an incredible story that a small group of 45 workers in St. John’s would receive such international attention and solidarity from workers as far away as Argentina, Australia, Belgium, the United States, and across Canada. We are very grateful for the support that helped our workers through this difficult time,” Furlong stated.

James Clancy, National President of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), "We commend the NAPE and its members for staying strong over these long, hard months. As we said time and time again, this was a fight against a corporate giant, waged on behalf of brewery workers across the globe."

"The solidarity this strike garnered shows just how strong the labour movement is in Canada, and around the world," Clancy added. "To everyone that worked hard to get our members back on the job, thank you."
 

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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE