Union workers at Welded Tube of Canada locked out since Christmas

At Welded Tube’s three facilities in Concord, Ontario, 340 USW-represented workers were locked out on Dec. 23 at 12:01 a.m. They remain on the picket lines as of Friday, awaiting a new and fair labor agreement.

Welded Tube’s Concord facilities, with more than 600,000 feet of manufacturing space combined, have multiple tube mills, a slitter for coil processing, a warehouse and distribution facility, and other equipment for producing hollow structural sections (HSS), mechanical ERW tubing, and oil country tubular goods (OCTG).

Union: “Locked out by a real-life grinch”

The timing of the lockout, right before Christmas, has been a major source of contention. Steven Carvalho, vice president of USW Local 8328 and a third-generation employee of the tube maker, said it “feels planned.” He believes it was Welded Tube’s “agenda to present a low offer at Christmastime in the hopes that our members would accept a poor contract to avoid a strike at Christmas,” he told SMU.

The union has also criticized the company’s wage offer – 2% annual increases over three years and a $2,000 bonus – for failing to keep pace with inflation. In 2017, the union accepted a 0% wage increase because times were “difficult” in hopes they could make up for it during better times.

Welded Tube’s behavior has been very “Grinch-like,” the union has said.

Thomas De Sousa, USW area coordinator for Toronto/Pickering, criticized the company for rejecting the union’s request to extend the no-board period until Jan. 5 after the holidays.

Mediation between the union and company is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 13, but Carvalho remains skeptical. “The way the employer has acted since we exchanged monetary proposals doesn’t give me much hope for optimism,” he added, accusing the company of bargaining in bad faith.

President of Local 8328, John Manfre, highlighted the strain on relations between the union and Welded Tube: “The mood is not hopeful, and relations have suffered because of the lockout.”

De Sousa also noted the tension in trust between the two parties. The relationship “is significantly strained and will take years to repair,” he lamented.

Locked out at holidays brings union members closer together

Despite the challenges, the USW representatives remain committed to securing a fair agreement.

Manfre praised the resilience of the union members, who have endured freezing temperatures with fire barrels and rented trailers for warmth. “We have really come together to support each other in this unfortunate situation,” he noted.

Carvalho emphasized the workers’ collective determination in an email to SMU, noting that the lockout has inadvertently strengthened their resolve.

If there is one good thing about getting locked out at Christmas, he said they got the worst and most demoralizing part over at the start. “The company ended up bringing us all together,” he commented. “We are all together now, stronger than ever.”

De Sousa concurred: “This lockout has brought our members united more than ever.” He called on the broader steel community and customers of Welded Tube to pressure the company to negotiate a fair agreement.

With mediation set for Monday, all eyes are on the bargaining table. Union leaders hope for progress but remain prepared to continue their fight for fair wages. “Employers of choice don’t lock out their workers, especially at Christmas,” Carvalho concluded.

About Welded Tube

Welded Tube of Canada did not respond to SMU’s requests for comment on this story.

Welded Tube is headquartered in Concord, and operates five manufacturing and finishing facilities. Its annual production capacity is 700,000 tons of HSS, mechanical ERW tubing, and OCTG. It bills itself as the largest independent OCTG producer in Canada.

In addition to the three locations in Concord, Welded Tube operates two facilities close to the Canada/US border: one in Welland, Ontario, and a Welded Tube USA facility in Lackawanna, New York, just south of Buffalo.

Just days before it locked out its union employees, Welded Tube of Canada joined the Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) as a member. The company’s president and CEO, Robert “Butch” Mandel, was also appointed to CSPA’s board of directors.

At the time of the announcement, Mandel said, “Given our pipe and tube facilities in both Canada and the US, Welded Tube brings to the CSPA a political perspective from both jurisdictions, especially relevant now with the incoming US administration.”

CSPA President and CEO Catherine Cobden welcomed the company, a major pipe and tube producer in Canada, to the association, noting it has “a strong track record of support for the domestic steel industry.”