b'HISTORY OF BARGAININGin Ontarios Electrical IndustryA LOOK BACK AT 44 YEARS OF LABOUR NEGOTIATIONSBETWEEN THE ETBA AND IBEWBy SCOTT G THOMPSON, HICKS MORLEYT RelationsActwasamended(IBEW)wereselectedbytheMinisterofarea agreements, without a strike. Between TheLabour in 1977 to provide for province-wide bar- Labour to be the designated employee bar- 1978and1990,thePrincipalAgreement gainingintheindustrial,commercialandgaining agency in the ICI sector to representwas renegotiated every two years. Although institutional (ICI) sector of the constructionall journeymen and apprentice electricians,the parties were able to renew the Principal industry in the Province of Ontario. At thatandjourneymenandapprenticelinemenAgreementwithoutastrikein1980and time, the Electrical Trade Bargaining Agencyrepresented by the IBEW construction locals1984, they were unsuccessful in 1982 (a one-of the Electrical Contractors Association ofin the Province of Ontario. These designationweekstrike),1986(atwo-and-a-half-week Ontario (ETBA) was selected by the Ministerorderswereexpandedin2001toincludestrike), 1988 (a three-week strike) and 1990 ofLabourtobetheemployerbargainingjourneymen and apprentice network cabling(an eight-week strike/lockout). Throughout agencyintheICIsectorforemployersspecialists and cable installers represented bythis period of traditional bargaining between whoseemployeeswererepresentedbythethe IBEW construction locals in the Province1978 and 1990, the only material language IBEW construction locals in the Province ofof Ontario. change to the Principal Agreement occurred Ontario. At the same time, the InternationalIn 1978 the ETBA and the IBEW were ablein 1982.Brotherhood of Electrical Workers along withto negotiate the first province-wide PrincipalTraditionalbargainingintheconstruction the IBEW Construction Council of OntarioAgreement,whichconsolidated14localindustry tends to follow the pattern of the www.ecao.org10'