Rogers' technicians in the Kootenays are back to work after the telecom ended its nine-day lockout.
Twenty-six employees were locked out of their offices on March 19 during labour negotiations between International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 213.
The technicians based in Nelson, Castlegar, Grand Forks, Trail, Cranbrook, Creston, Fairmont and Fernie install and maintain networks for residences and businesses, answer service calls and work on infrastructure. They voted to unionize last year following Rogers' purchase of the former telecom Shaw in 2023 for $26 billion.
A spokesperson for Rogers confirmed to the Nelson Star that the lockout was lifted March 28.
“Our goal has always been to achieve a negotiated collective agreement with our technicians. We understand a strike action on short notice is unlikely at this time, which would limit our ability to meet the needs of our customers without interruption.”
Robin Nedila, assistant business manager for Local 213, confirmed unionized employees were back to work but had no new information to share on when both sides would resume negotiations.
The union filed an unfair labour practices complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board prior to the lockout.
The brief lockout was marked by a confrontation between temporary workers and the union that was broken up by Trail RCMP on March 26.
