Contract talks between Jamieson Laboratories Ltd. and its unionized workers in Windsor have bogged down after they rejected a tentative deal earlier this year.
But there is no strike deadline and dates for further negotiations are being set in the coming weeks, said Colette Hooson, a national representative with the Canadian Auto Workers.
Windsor-based CAW Local 195 represents 222 of the more than 500 employees at two Jamieson plants that make vitamins and nutritional supplements. The company, which has a payroll of 548 full-time employees, also has a corporate office in Toronto.
While other industries in the region have suffered and some closed during the recession, Jamieson has expanded and operated at a steady clip while providing well-paying jobs in a clean environment, said Hooson. CAW Local 195 represents a range of employees at the plants from skilled trades workers to those who handle packaging.
“We continue to dialogue with local CAW 195 in terms of trying to negotiate a settlement relating to the contract which expired Jan. 31, 2013,” Jamieson president and CEO Vic Neufeld said in an emailed statement.
Negotiations started in January and after six days of talks the union committee brought a tentative deal back to the workers who rejected it, Hooson said, declining to provide details of the agreement. “The membership needs were different than was communicated to us at the time.”
The union has applied for a conciliator to assist with the talks, which will likely resume later this month, she said.
There was a rumour in December of a possible sale of Jamieson, which is privately owned and headed by American journalist Eric Margolis whose father purchased the now 91-year-old company in 1951.
The union was assured at the time that there were no serious discussions of a sale, Hooson said. “There’s always somebody doing a feel out on them because it’s a highly competitive market….. It’s not the first time there’s been somebody taking an interest in them.”
Jamieson was approached by a large British firm but “nothing went ahead,” said Paula Prociuk Blacklock, spokeswoman for the vitamin maker. “There is a trend right now for packaged goods and big pharma (companies) to look at vitamin manufacturers.”
If Jamieson makes any moves in the future it would have to be tied to expanding its market in the United States, she said.
Find Windsor Star on Facebook
