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Elevator Constructors strike

hodgkinsken

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So I got a letter from my builder stating the following:

Please be advised that the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) in Toronto began striking on Wednesday May 1, 2013. As per the Tarion Addendum to Agreement of Purchase and Sale, this represents an “Unavoidable Delay†and will impact the occupancy date of the aforementioned property. At this time, we are unable to determine the extent to which occupancy dates will be effected, however, we will notify you of date changes once this strike has been resolved

I didn't even know it was going on. But considering all the buildings currently under construction how long do people think it will take for this to have an effect on some projects? I can only imagine the cost of delay on projects like L tower or Aura.
 
They were protesting today in front of the Bay-Adelaide construction site. Didn't really stop to see what was up
 
I've been told by a couple of people that the drywallers/framers are on strike too, but I've not been able to get that confirmed.
 
The elevators in my building have been a complete mess. We had no elevator service in the entire building for a day. My neighbor is pregnant and due any day now and is extremely concerned.

Elevator service should become an essential service.
 
I've been told by a couple of people that the drywallers/framers are on strike too, but I've not been able to get that confirmed.

Confirmed by my builder moments ago:

Please be advised that the Drywallers Local 675 of the Carpenters Union in Toronto began striking on Monday May 6, 2013.
As per the Tarion Addendum to Agreement of Purchase and Sale, this represents an “Unavoidable Delay” and will impact the occupancy date of the aforementioned property. At this time, we are unable to determine the extent to which occupancy dates will be effected, however, we will notify you of date changes once this strike has been resolved.
 
Man... what a joke, everyone is striking now a days. Everyone wants better wages. Unfortunately, when you work at a company that isn't unionized, what do you do - your left out in the cold.
I'm neither against/for unions, but really? strikes cripple the city - you don't see non unionized people go on strikes! (at least I haven't heard of).
 
Seems like the local press has only focused on the repair side of things:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/05/10/elevator_workers_strike_could_ground_toronto.html

If the elevators in her condo tower don't work, Marilyn Haws is stuck. It's a reality that has become a mounting concern in recent days for the senior, who lives on the 36th floor in a North York condo complex.
Although both towers at Concorde Park have four elevators, on Thursday Haws said that only three were working in her building. In the tower across the lobby, meanwhile, only one elevator was operational.
And with the bulk of the city's elevator workers on strike, she feared the situation could quickly deteriorate.

“I'm worried,” Haws said. “I'm sure everyone feels the same way.”

Elevator maintenance workers are a silent army, largely unnoticed by the public until their services are required. In this vertical city, however, their absence could have profound implications.
Locked in a collective bargaining dispute with four of the biggest elevator companies, the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) across Ontario went on strike last week. Some 1,400 elevator workers — 800 of whom work in the GTA — are now on the picket line. According to Ben McIntyre, business manager for IUEC Local 50 in Toronto, workloads and staffing levels are the main sticking points for elevators workers in one of the busiest construction markets in North America.

Although the companies (Otis, ThyssenKrupp, Schindler and KONE) are using replacement workers and managers to help fill the void, repair jobs are already piling up.
On Thursday, the TTC, which has been making strides in recent years to increase accessibility by equipping more of its stations with elevators, issued a news release to inform riders that, due to the strike, elevators “may be out of service for longer than usual after a breakdown.”

TTC spokesman Brad Ross said that before the strike, Schindler told the TTC that managers would perform non-emergency repairs in a matter of hours, but “they have not been able to do that.”
With 9 of its 80 elevators currently out of service, the TTC is now working to secure a contract with another elevator company.
“It affects our customers, and potentially their livelihood. They rely on the elevators, particularly people in mobility devices, to go about their daily lives,” Ross said.

For now, Dean McCabe, president of the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario, said the labour disruption is primarily “an inconvenience” for condo dwellers. But if the strike drags on to the point where routine maintenance is not being done, it will surely hit home for many residents of the GTA, where there are an estimated 2,000 elevators in residential condos.

“For the people living in highrise condos, (elevators are) as fundamental as transit,” he said. “It's part of their commute.”
The strike marks the first time all three Ontario locals have walked out on the job since 1988. According to McIntyre, there is a clause in the contract that would allow unionized elevator workers to stay on the job under the old agreement until a new deal is reached, but the companies, which negotiate in tandem, denied that request.
“All these big companies . . . are trying to make up their bottom line statements on the back of the Ontario workers,” he said.

On Wednesday, ThyssenKrupp filed a lawsuit in Newmarket Court against IUEC Local 50. According to McIntyre, the company is seeking $10 million “for damages for the ongoing strike,” a charge the union will defend in court on Friday. In an email, a spokeswoman for the company said “ThyssenKrupp's top priority is the safety of passengers and the riding public.” She did not respond to questions about the lawsuit.
At Concorde Park, meanwhile, it's still touch and go. By Thursday night, resident Jim Lang said two of the elevators in his building, and all of the elevators in the adjacent tower where Haws lives, were operational.

Rather than wait for the only working elevator in his building earlier this week, Lang chose to trundle down the stairs from his 18th floor unit every morning. He counts himself among the lucky ones.
“Not everyone is capable of doing that,” he said.
 
Another one:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ke_leaves_man_worried_for_elderly_mother.html

Roy Leffell went to visit his mom at her old-age home on Mother’s Day and, like a good son, left with a feeling of disquiet.

All four elevators in her wing of the Kensington Gardens home on Brunswick Ave. were out of service, Leffell said. In fact, they’ve been acting wonky for days.
As thestrike by elevator repair workers across Ontario drags on, Leffell is worried about his mom, Gillian, a 76-year-old resident with dementia who uses a wheelchair to get around.

“You have a whole group of people that are vulnerable,” said Leffell.

He said the elevator at his own Richmond St. apartment building is also down, but striking repair workers should make exceptions for places like old-age homes.
“This is a health-care facility. I think (the repair workers) should have some respect for that and come here and fix them,” he said. “It’s a safety hazard.”

Three locals of the International Union of Elevator Contractors (IUEC) went on strike on May 1 when contracts expired with four local elevator service companies: Otis, ThyssenKrupp, Schindler and KONE. The union’s Local 50 represents 800 workers in the GTA, who install and maintain about 50,000 elevators, according to its website.
Ben McIntyre, business manager for Local 50, was not available to comment Sunday; nor were representatives for Kensington Gardens and Schindler, the company which operates the old-age home’s elevators.

Leffell is not opposed to the strike but he feels the unreliable elevator service in his mother’s building is too disruptive for the elderly. Even when the elevators are working, Kensington Gardens staff must unlock one for him and his mom before they can use it. Earlier Sunday, they were stuck in one for 10 minutes, he said.
“I can’t just walk down the hall and press the elevator button,” he said. “It really impairs what’s going on in the building.”

Toronto Fire Capt. David Eckerman said firefighters have “probably” received more elevator-related calls during the strike but doesn’t an increased threat to safety.
“It’s something we’re not really too concerned about,” he said. “For us, elevators often aren’t working in fire situations … We’re just always prepared.”
 
Impact on the TTC

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2013/05/13/toronto-ttc-elevator-strike.html

The Toronto Transit Commission says they are adding buses and looking at their options for riders as the elevator workers strike continues.

Some commuters rely on the 80 elevators throughout the TTC's subway system to travel, said TTC spokesman Brad Ross. He said 10 per cent of the company's elevators are currently out of service.

The International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) Locals 96, 90 and 50 have been striking for almost two weeks.

"We've been putting some Wheel-Trans buses in strategic locations across the system so [if] people in wheelchairs, for example, find themselves stuck in a station ... we're able to get them to where they need to go by Wheel-Trans," said Ross.

Hiring a second elevator service provider is another option the TTC is exploring to fix broken elevators, added Ross.

The strike is starting to affect businesses and residences across the city as service calls become backed up. Managers and temporary workers are trying to keep elevators in service.
 
The elevators in my building have been a complete mess. We had no elevator service in the entire building for a day. My neighbor is pregnant and due any day now and is extremely concerned.

Elevator service should become an essential service.

You actually know your neighbours? Last time I checked, you were a hermit.
 
And it looks like its coming to an end. I wonder how many new construction buildings will be delayed because of this.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2013/06/11/toronto-elevator-workers-strike.html

Elevator repair work stoppage lifted by June 17
GTA's 800 lift mechanics to be back in service in buildings, condos next week

The province's unionized elevator workers, who have been on strike since May 1, will be back to work in new and existing residential buildings by June 17. (CBC)
Striking elevator technicians in Ontario will get back to work June 17 in residential buildings, the National Elevator Escalator Association announced today.

Unionized employees were notified by the NEEA to resume fixing and maintaining lifting devices by the start of the next work week amid a backlog of breakdowns, which were a consequence of the work stoppage that has dragged on since May 1.

New and existing condos and buildings in Toronto, the regions of Halton, Peel, York, Durham and the County of Simcoe will be affected.

"NEEA is pleased to return to mediation with the International Union of Elevator Constructors today," the association said in a release Tuesday, adding that it has "proposed a significant wage increase and remains hopeful that a collective agreement can be reached and will continue to work towards that end."

At issue for the roughly 1,400 Ontario elevator mechanics were workloads and staffing levels, a representative for the International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 50 said.

About 800 of the elevator mechanics were on the picket line work in the GTA, which is undergoing one of the biggest construction booms in North America.

95% of lifting devices running fine, NEEA says
The Ontario Federation of Labour issued a release last week saying that nearly one in every 50,000 elevators in the province were out of compliance with provincial safety standards and that nearly three-quarters of them were in disrepair.

However, the NEEA disputed those claims, assuring that "Ontarians should rest assured that elevating devices continue to be safe" and that "claims otherwise made by some union leaders are untrue."

The association countered that "more than 95 per cent" of all the province's elevators and escalators operated by the four largest lift companies — KONE, Otis, Schindler and ThyssenKrupp Elevator — remain fully operational.

The association said it has flagged hospitals and nursing homes as priority buildings in need of lift maintenance so that people with mobility problems will not be forced to take the stairs.

The Technical Standards Safety Authority, which is the provincial agency tasked with inspecting elevating devices, has not been affected by the strike.
 
Well this is interesting. Letter from my builder:

As of Monday June 17, 2013, the Labour Relations Board ordered residential construction site elevator maintenance workers back to work in the GTS and Simcoe County. To date, no workers have returned to our site, nor are we able to contact anyone to make further inquiries. In essence, the elevator maintenance workers have not returned to work.

Tarion has confirmed that “there are continuing job actions and a legal strike continues elsewhere.”

We will contact you as soon as the situation becomes more clear, and when the delays have ended we will provide a new, updated Statement of Critical Dates.
 
Well this is interesting. Letter from my builder:

As of Monday June 17, 2013, the Labour Relations Board ordered residential construction site elevator maintenance workers back to work in the GTS and Simcoe County. To date, no workers have returned to our site, nor are we able to contact anyone to make further inquiries. In essence, the elevator maintenance workers have not returned to work.

Tarion has confirmed that “there are continuing job actions and a legal strike continues elsewhere.â€

We will contact you as soon as the situation becomes more clear, and when the delays have ended we will provide a new, updated Statement of Critical Dates.

The elevator people are officially off strike (vs. being ordered back). A negotiated settlement has been reached:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1192391/union-accepts-neea-s-offer-to-end-ontario-s-elevator-strike


Union Accepts NEEA's Offer to End Ontario's Elevator Strike

Negotiated Deal Is Good for Ontarians, Industry and Employees

TORONTO, June 28, 2013 /CNW/ - The National Elevator and Escalator Association (NEEA) announced today that the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) has accepted NEEA's offer to end the elevator strike in Ontario.

NEEA's offer to the IUEC, which the union has accepted, will allow NEEA's member companies to achieve greater control over their workforce, increase flexibility over costs for customers, and includes a wage increase for the next three years that is consistent with what other trades have received.

Elevator technicians in all sectors across the province are expected to return to work shortly, and all should be back on the job by July 10th.

On May 1st, IUEC Locals 50, 90 and 96 broke off negotiations and opted to go on strike. During the strike, NEEA assigned top priority for repairs to elevators and escalators in hospitals and nursing homes so as to help protect the most vulnerable Ontarians. Buildings with only one elevator were also prioritized. NEEA member companies used trained, qualified employees to keep the vast majority of Ontario's elevating devices in good working order.

NEEA is grateful for the patience of Ontarians under trying circumstances. The member companies are looking forward to having their employees back at work.

About National Elevator Escalator Association (NEEA)
NEEA is made up of member companies KONE, Otis, Schindler and ThyssenKrupp Elevator. Ontario's Labour Relations Act designates the NEEA as an employer bargaining agency. In this role, NEEA bargains collectively with the IUEC for all employers performing Industrial-Commercial-Institutional (ICI) construction in Ontario.

SOURCE: National Elevator Escalator Association (NEEA)
 

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