London’s Gentek workers back on the job after voting 70% in favour of new deal

There’s labour peace at a London window and siding manufacturer after a brief strike at the end of June.

About 150 unionized workers at Gentek Building Products walked off the job on June 24, hitting the picket lines. The company and Unifor Local 27 reached a tentative deal four days later and the membership voted 70 per cent in favour of it on June 29.

“All in all, we were quite pleased with both the outcome and the results of having to take the action to withdraw our labour,” said Unifor Local 27 president Jim Reid.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "All in all, we were quite pleased with both the outcome and the results of having to take the action to withdraw our labour," said Unifor Local 27 president Jim Reid.

“We got some assurances from him that there’s going to be, definitely, some changes in how they address some things and the relationship with our union. We have 31 different workplaces in Local 27 and most of them we have very positive relationship with management. There’s a few we don’t, and this was one of them.”

Workers were back at their posts on Friday.

— With files from Jess Brady.