After 83 days of walking a picket line, members will be returning to work

March 1, 2011 — The Manitoba labour board has ordered the 22 UFCW Canada Local 832 members who have been on strike since December 9, to return to work at the Malteurop barley malting facility in Winnipeg, after Local 832 applied for Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Both sides responded to the labour board and will now be working on a ‘return to work agreement’. The members are returning to work under their previous collective agreement until an arbitrator rules on a new one – which could take up to 90 days for the ruling.

UFCW Canada Local 832 President Robert Ziegler was pleased to hear the news. “I am proud of the members who walked the picket line, right to the end, under extreme temperatures never complaining once. They stood up to the employer and fought against the concessions at the bargaining table. We look forward to the arbitrators ruling,” stated Ziegler.

One issue that could delay some members returning to work is the recent lockout of brewery workers at the Moosehead Brewery in Saint John, New Brunswick. Malteurop is the exclusive producer of malt for Moosehead. Until that dispute is settled, some of the members at Malteroup may have to wait to be recalled until production picks up.

Vol. XI No. 10 • March 7, 2011