PEGO considers strike action
The union representing professional engineers and land surveyors working for the province says it has received an overwhelming strike mandate from its rank and file.
The more than 600 members of the Professional Engineers Government of Ontario (PEGO) have been without a contract since December 31, 2022. The union says bargaining has taken place sporadically since then, with no real progress achieved.
Last week, PEGO asked members to vote on whether to authorize the union to engage in strike action should it be unable to reach an agreement with the province’s Treasury Board Secretariat. More than 95% of those voting approved the strike mandate, PEGO says.
"PEGO remains committed to the bargaining process and to representing our members' interests in good faith." said Nihar Bhatt, P.Eng., President of PEGO. "But to be frank, we have often been dismayed by the stance of the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) during these talks. While the government of Ontario is implementing massive, vital infrastructure projects that require our members' expertise, the actions of the TBS negotiating team at the bargaining table seem at odds with that provincial infrastructure agenda. Our members have spoken loudly and clearly with this strike vote. It is time for TBS representatives to engage in much more substantive bargaining."
PEGO members work on the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of public infrastructure projects and programs across 11 of the province’s ministries and agencies.
The union says it intends to arrange a separate, second vote before a full membership-wide withdrawal of labour could take place, adding that it hopes to avoid a labour disruption and reach a negotiated agreement.
"We are seeking a renewed collective agreement that more fairly values the professional skills and hard work of Ontario's professional engineers and land surveyors," said Bhatt. “The strike vote makes it clear — our members want a contract that responds to the increased costs facing their families and that makes progress on repairing the misalignment of their incomes with the wider market for their professional skills.”
Both sides are discussing possible summer dates to continue bargaining.
At this time, neither side has asked the Minister of Labour to assign a conciliation officer to the bargaining. The request is one of the preconditions in the legal strike process described in the Ontario Labour Relations Act.