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KANATA, ONT.—After 75 days on the picket line, Unifor members at Best Theratronics delivered a stern and powerful message to their employer: Get back to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair deal.
That was the sentiment that freely flowed through the crowd during a blazing hot solidarity rally on July 15, held by Unifor and supported by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). Unifor Best Theratronics members have been on strike since May 1 when the medical equipment manufacturing company refused any proposed wage increases for two years.
“This employer has violated the labour laws of Canada. This employer has threatened our members with their jobs,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne in her remarks at the rally.
“And nothing makes my blood boil more than when employers think they can threaten the livelihood of families and get away with it. This employer has with every deed, with every word, with every action shown his contempt for our members and for their rights.”
More than 50 members of Unifor Local 1541 and PSAC-UNE Local 70369 are on strike at Best Theratronics. PSAC members went on strike on May 10, also with no monetary offer from the employer.
Best Theratronics develops and manufactures external beam therapy units, self-contained blood irradiators, and cyclotrons for hospitals, medical and research facilities.
During the Victoria Day long weekend in May, the company’s owner Krishnan Suthanthiran went on an email rant, painting the workers as entitled and saying the company will use contractors to complete work.
“It’s 2024, not 1924. The days of master/servant workplaces are long gone. Our members are not servants. And you are not their master,” added Payne.
Unifor has filed a bad faith bargaining complaint at the federal labour board and asked them to order the employer back to the table.
“We are going to keep fighting for and with you as long as it takes to get a collective agreement that you can support,” Payne told members. “I am so very proud of all of you for your determination, for your fight and for your incredible solidarity.”
In her speech, Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi said Unifor will continue to hold employers that use scab labour and who think they’re above the law accountable.
“We have a message for Best Theratronics: you are not above the law and we’re going to be here for as long as it takes to get a fair deal,” said Hashi. “You have the full support of Unifor, fighting alongside you. United, we’re strong.”
The Ontario Regional Council donated $5,000 to striking workers at Best Theratronics to help with the fight. Many locals also donated to the strike fund and the national union agreed to match the contributions.
Ruth Lau-MacDonald, PSAC Regional Executive Vice President of National Capital Region, said while the company’s owner calls Best Theratronics workers “family,” he talks about how workers’ rights in Canada interfere with his productivity.
“We know that in 2011, [the employer] got money from the Ontario government to build his company here in Ottawa, and yet, he goes to the media and tells them our unions are the problem here…He cannot have it both ways anymore.”
Last month, Unifor and PSAC launched a series of digital billboard ads directed at Best Theratronics’ Kanata facility to treat their workers with respect and get back to the bargaining table with a fair deal.
Also in June, both unions sent a joint letter to the Canadian Safety Nuclear Commission (CNSC), expressing their concerns about Best Theratronics using unqualified managers and non-union workers as scab labour to handle safety-sensitive equipment at its. facility, including those containing radioactive material.
“This rally is a big boost for our morale,” said Unifor Local 1541 President Steve LaBelle. “I’ve worked here 25 years. I’m an electronic technician and I could retire, but I wanted to be here for the younger people – making sure they have a future.”
Unifor members work in the Skilled Trades as certified machinists, welders, sheet metal workers, machining process specialists, calibrators, electronic technicians, electrical and mechanical inspectors at the facility.
“We want to return to work,” said Unifor Local 1541 member and strike captain Dale Rath. “We want to help cancer patients by manufacturing the medical equipment, but we will not work for free, in unsafe conditions and without respect from management.”
Read Unifor National President Lana Payne’s message about the company’s union busting tactics
