Drywallers ratify new contract - By DON PROCTER, Daily Commercial News, Canada
The unionized drywall industry in Ontario has just ratified a three-year collective agreement with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
The agreement is less interesting for its contents than for the way it was negotiated — amicably over a six-month period. The current agreement expires May 1.
Negotiations between the Interior Systems Contractors Association of Ontario (ISCA), the IUPAT and the carpenters union commenced last November.
Bargaining that far in advance of an agreement’s expiry is unheard of in the construction sector.
“I think it is the first time that unions and employers were sincere about the collective bargaining process,” said Bill Nicholls, business manager and secretary treasurer of the IUPAT District Council 46 and president of the Ontario Council of Painters.