Ontario plans to recall legislature to prevent power workers’ strike: source

A source with the government said Premier Doug Ford plans to recall the legislature on Monday — a week after the house rose for the Christmas break — to stave off the labour action involving some 6,000 workers at Ontario Power Generation. (File Photo: @opgpics/Instagram)

TORONTO — The Ontario government is planning an emergency session next week to pass legislation that would prevent power workers from going on strike.

A source with the government said Premier Doug Ford plans to recall the legislature on Monday — a week after the house rose for the Christmas break — to stave off the labour action involving some 6,000 workers at Ontario Power Generation.

The Progressive Conservative government has said a strike could cause power outages in as little as a week.

Notice of a strike came late Friday, a day after the members of Ontario’s Power Workers’ Union rejected a contract offer from OPG, putting them in a legal strike position as of Dec. 26.

In a letter to OPG obtained by The Canadian Press, union president Mel Hyatt says its members will withdraw their services in 21 days. The union did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the utility.

Earlier Friday, Energy Minister Greg Rickford said the 21-day delay in withdrawal of services is mandated because the union deals with nuclear assets. He said the government was prepared to take any steps necessary to safeguard the province’s power supply.

“This is a slightly different set of circumstances than most,” he said. “There’s a very technical process to the wind down of these 10 units.”

Some units would start to shut down about a week into the process, the minister said. “Seven to 10 days would be our first potential scenario for an interruption,” he said.

Not all the union members involved are nuclear workers but the others have agreed to follow the same 21-day timeline in case of a job action, he said.

Rickford would not say whether power workers should be designated as providing an essential service under law, like doctors and police, which would prevent them from striking down the line.

The organization that manages Ontario’s power system said Friday that a strike at OPG would put the system’s reliability at risk.

“The shutdown of OPG’s nuclear and hydroelectric facilities could occur in approximately three weeks. At that point Ontario would not have the generation needed to meet consumer demand and customers would begin losing power,” the Independent Electricity System Operator said in a statement.

“The IESO will take every action available to delay and mitigate the impact. Planned generator outages will be deferred, operating reserves will be utilized, and there will be increased use of the gas fleet and energy imports from our neighbours,” it said.

“However, these actions will not be enough to prevent significant losses of power.”

The union, which has been without a deal since March 31, said in a statement Thursday that OPG’s final offer remained unchanged from a previous position and was rejected.

The group said its members will continue to fulfil their responsibilities in compliance with all safety guidelines as they prepare for the job action.

“We are disappointed that OPG provided a final offer that remained unchanged from the previous offer that had already been rejected.

We need to reach an agreement that will strengthen the reliability of Ontario’s energy sector,” Hyatt said.

The union represents over 16,000 workers in Ontario’s energy sector, including about 6,000 OPG employees.

Ontario Power Generation expressed disappointment Thursday that its offer was rejected and said it was activating contingency plans in the event of a labour disruption.

“OPG is committed to ensuring the safety of Ontarians is protected at all times,” the company said.