One hundred seventy-one Society members at Inergi LP are transferring to Hydro One following a deal to insource IT services. Hydro One had contracted out the work in 2001, which continuously put jobs at risk of being offshored or downsized over the past two decades.
Concerned for the future of their members’ jobs, Inergi Local Vice President Judith Logan Junop and her Local Committee proposed reintegration
with Hydro One as both a way to bring job security and create efficiencies for Hydro One. The Society’s Hydro One Local Vice President Vicki Power and President Scott Travers were able to present a strong business case to Hydro One and negotiate the terms of the transfer with the company’s leadership. These efforts also build on longstanding advocacy efforts by former Hydro One LVP Jim Botari to insource Inergi work. [Photo at right: LVPs Logan Junop, left, and Power, right, with Secretary-Treasurer Michelle Johnston, Labour Day 2019.]
“No matter what the Society’s elected leaders did, the real credit here goes to Inergi Local members,” said LVP Logan Junop. “Without the members’ hard work and professionalism under the most challenging circumstances this deal would not have made sense for Hydro One.”
The first and largest group of former Inergi employees were transferred to Hydro One on March 1. The remaining transfers will be completed by January 1, 2022, including members in the Source to Pay, Finance and Accounting, Payroll, and Shared Services departments. All transferees immediately become full Hydro One employees under the conditions of the transfer memorandum of understanding and the Society-Hydro One collective agreement. Inergi Local members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the terms of the transfer.
“I want to welcome — and welcome back — all 171 members to Hydro One and especially our local,” said LVP Power, who leads the 1700-member bargaining unit. “The return of your work to Hydro One is a testament to what we can do when we work together for the betterment of all members.”
In 2017-18, the Society and Hydro One successfully repatriated Inergi customer service employees to Hydro One. Following that, members in Inergi’s Settlements group were also insourced.
