The Society of Untied Professionals and Bruce Power have successfully reached a tentative collective agreement. The Society’s bargaining team unanimously recommends the proposed agreement to its 1,200 members.
“Our bargaining team is proud of this win-win agreement that addresses our members’ priorities and enables Bruce Power to be a global leader in clean, affordable energy that powers a strong Ontario,” said Mike Gade, the Bruce Power Local Vice President of the Society of United Professionals who led the union’s bargaining efforts. “We were only able to secure this deal because of the hard work and solidarity of Society members at Bruce Power.”
The Society of United Professionals’ Bruce Power Local will hold ratification meetings with its members over the coming weeks to detail the contents of the tentative agreement. Until those meetings begin the details of the tentative agreement will remain confidential. The ratification vote is expected to take place in late August.
Collective bargaining began in November, 2018 and lasted 10 months. In June, Society members gave their bargaining committee a strike mandate in the event that an agreement could not be reached. The Society also filed for conciliation in June and the Ministry of Labour-appointed conciliator worked with the parties throughout the remainder of negotiations.
“I thank all 1,200 Society members for their enduring support throughout collective bargaining,” said Gade. “From setting the bargaining agenda to participating in workplace solidarity activities to their overwhelming support for a strike mandate, members stepped up and there is no way we could have secured this agreement without that.”
The Society of United Professionals, formerly The Society of Energy Professionals, has represented workers at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station since it was first constructed in the 1970s. Members of the Society’s Bruce Power Local include supervisors, engineers and other professionals. The Society of United Professionals’ Bruce Power Local gives back to the communities its members live and work in through its Bruce Community Fund. The Fund supports a wide range of community philanthropic initiatives, including programs to recruit and retain family doctors, the United Way of Bruce Grey, and other organizations like The Women’s Centre, Kincardine Trails Association and the South Grey Bruce Youth Literacy Council.
