MONTREAL, (July 27, 2005) — Fillion Transport’s 40 Métallos unionized drivers in Beloeil, Que. found closed doors and security guards instead of the keys to their trucks when they showed up for work one morning last month.

Since then, the drivers have received letters from the Contrans-owned firm announcing the definite closing of their trucking company, reports Today’s Trucking sister publication Transport Routier. According to the union, Fillion has either sold off its trucks or rebranded equipment under the Laidlaw Carriers banner — another Contrans Income Fund division.

The drivers and their union insist the closure is a union-busting tactic — a charge the company denies. But Métallos says it’s no coincidence drivers were locked out as the two sides were preparing to renegotiate the collective agreement.

“We denounce Fillion Transport’s anti-union behaviour, who prefers to close its company rather than negotiating in good faith,” said Bruno Lefebvre, coordinator at the Syndicat de Métallos Montréal region. “We had to negociate this fall. The company did not want to meet with us.”

Métallos is taking the case to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). According to Métallos representative Pierre Arseneau, the union had taken Fillion to the board even before the closing, alleging the company was employing agency drivers for loads normally hauled by union truckers. “It was total sub-contracting,” Arseneau tells Routier. “This (recent) behaviour is just the continuation of the company’s refusal to negotiate with a union.”

In the meantime, some drivers have kept busy by protesting outside the doors of the steel-hauler’s long-time customers, like CGS. “Many of Fillion’s customers are (also) Métallos union-members,” says Arseneau. “We intend to mobilize our organization to make Fillion Transport reconsider its decision.”

Contrans CEO Stan Dunford didn’t return requests for an interview, but Louise Baillargeon, a lawyer representing Fillion, told Routier much of Métallos’ claims are nothing more than union rhetoric. She echoed a recent Fillion press release that blamed the closure on a depressed steel market, rising fuel costs, and that operating expenses have outpaced revenue. The company added that it regretted laying off its drivers, but was confident that with the worsening qualified driver shortage, they should have no trouble finding work.

“There’s no secret here,” says Baillargeon. “The steel market is going under a reconstruction process. The market was a bit better in ’04 but started to drift away again in ’05. Just look how many steel companies went bankrupt — meaning they could not respond to carriers’ requests for rate increases. Fillion decided that it was not worthwhile to keep going. It’s that simple.”

Baillargeon adds that CGS freight recently taken over by some Laidlaw trucks was never Fillion’s to begin with, but part of a large contact Contrans distributed to several contactors. “It is true that Fillion sub-contracted some transport movement for CGS, but (CGS) is not and has never been a customer of Fillion.”

And Baillargeon quickly put a wet blanket on the allegation the company is trying to bust the union. “Fillion was unionized for more than 10 years and the management had no problem living with it. The decision has nothing to do at all with the unions,” she says. “I understand the employees see things differently, but the facts we explained are based on reality …

“I can tell you that we even asked the union to re-open the contract and they never answered our request,” she continues. “In addition, Fillion Transport, in October 2004, increased the wage of all drivers. I don’t know many employers who increase wages during a contract that the union doesn’t want to re-open.”

But that may be because the pay raises were offered to the drivers while under a different union. While no one would say so publicly, one Quebec-based source told Routier that union relations may have soured only after this past January when Métallos took over for Centrale des Syndicats Démocratiques (CSD) union in representing Fillion drivers.

Meanwhile, the answer as to whether Fillion closed to avoid dealing with an aggressive new union, or whether it simply succumbed to the economic pressures that have choked many truckers before it, is now for the CIRB to tackle. A decision is expected soon.