Strike at Ottawa’s Best Theratronics drags on

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When Best Theratronics Ltd. workers first hit the picket lines on May 1, the tulips were just starting to bloom.

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More than seven months later, the workers at the medical technology plant who haven’t drifted off to other jobs are still on the lines in snow, and the two unions that represent them say Best Theratronics Ltd. owner Krishnan Suthanthiran still has not come to the table.

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“He’s trying to wait us out and bust the union,” said Janet Malek, the lead negotiator for Unifor, which represents manufacturing workers.

It’s unclear what this means for the future of the company, which produces and maintains external beam therapy units used in cancer treatment, self-contained blood irradiators and cyclotrons.

Suthanthiran bought the company from MDS Nordion in 2007 for a reported $15 million. At the time, Nordion said it was divesting itself of “non-strategic product lines.”

Suthanthiran has argued that the company has been losing money and its markets are being eroded by international competition.

As it stands, there are no operational activities occurring at the March Road facility, nuclear substances on site are safely stored and there is no risk to the public or the environment, according to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. 

Meanwhile, of the 44 Unifor and PSAC workers on active picket line duty at the beginning of the strike, 18 remain, said Malek.

The contract expired in March 2023. The company tabled its first and only wage offer in January, offering zero increases and $25 for new safety glasses, she said.

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“The longer this goes on, the likelihood increases that there will be no workers. And then there’s no union.”

PSAC has sought interventions from a conciliator and mediator and has filed ongoing complaints to the Labour Board, said Jade Conrad, a spokesperson for PSAC, which represents 12 design specialists, technicians and production planners and controllers. 

“Each time, we have been met with the same answer — the employer has not given his representatives a mandate to bargain with the unions,” said Conrad.  

“A self-proclaimed billionaire, Krishnan (Suthanthiran) is more focused on his image than he is in ensuring life-saving medical devices are delivered to the clients that need them.” 

The collective agreement expired in March 2023. In an email to employees sent last May, Suthanthiran said Nordion was about to shut down the division when he bought it and he has invested nearly $100 million US in facilities and improvements, new machine tools and new product developments. 

In an email to MPs, Suthanthiran, whose TeamBest Global Companies empire is based in Springfield, Virginia, said Best Theratronics has had nearly $30 million in losses over the last several years.

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Among other benefits for workers, Suthanthiran said he has installed air conditioning in the facility and offers employees free meals in the cafeteria and turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Striking workers have blocked entrances and prevented other employees from entering the building, he said. The unions have engaged in “destructive conduct” to shut down the company and force it to move out of Canada and export jobs to other countries.

Suthanthiran claims the Chinese government offered him nearly $100 million U.S. to move manufacturing from Canada to China, but he declined the offer. Now China has set up a similar operation and is aggressively competing with Best Theratronics, he said. 

Best Theratronics is under federal jurisdiction and the unions have appealed to federal Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon to intervene.

In an exchange with Conservative MP Kyle Seeback at a November meeting of the standing committee on human resources, MacKinnon said he met with the unions and had made repeated attempts “to communicate with the company’s owner, who has proven elusive, not only to union representatives, but to us.”

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It’s a “very aggravating situation when the federal labour minister calls upon an employer to discuss labour stoppage and the employer does not respond,” said MacKinnon, who added he has asked the department for options to deal with the situation.

Meanwhile, Best Theratronics has been subject to two orders from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which regulates nuclear energy and materials.

The first order was issued following a Nov. 4 inspection of the facility on March Road, and is related to the company’s security and emergency preparedness programs.

The order means that Best Theratronics must put in place additional measures and take additional actions related to security and emergency preparedness, said the regulator in a statement.

“All other information on the reasons for the order or on actions to be taken is considered sensitive security information and cannot be shared publicly. There are no risks to the public or the environment stemming from this non-compliance.”

The second order, unrelated to the inspection, was part of the commission’s ongoing regulatory oversight of the facility.

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On Nov. 6, commission staff issued an order that Best Theratronics was in non-compliance with its licence condition regarding a financial guarantee for decommissioning.

“This non-compliance relates to the funding for eventual decommissioning of the facility, and there are no risks to the public or the environment stemming from this non-compliance.”

The order requires the licensee not to operate under its Class 1B licence until a financial guarantee acceptable to the Commission is established and an acceptable plan to restart operations is provided, said the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s orders to Best Theratronics are under review, part of the standard commission process after issuing an order. In a review, the commission or a designated officer considers whether to confirm, amend, revoke or replace the order.

The person named in or subject to an order also gets a chance to speak should they feel they have additional facts that should be considered. If the person does not exercise that opportunity, the commission or designated officer proceeds with their decision, said the regulator.

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“At this time, we can confirm that the orders are under review and that Best Theratronics has requested an opportunity to be heard on both orders.”

Compliance with an order is required, whether or not the subject of the order has had the opportunity to be heard on it. An order is effective when it’s issued, not after a review.

According to Unifor, its workers have seen an average annual wage increase of 1.1 per cent over the past 16 years. Managers and a lawyer for the company have come to the bargaining table, but Suthanthiran maintains he’s the only one who can put more money on the table, said Malek.

Mathieu Perrotin, a spokesperson for federal labour minister MacKinnon, said the federal government respects and has faith in the collective bargaining process “because negotiated agreements are the best way forward.” 

Two conciliation officers were appointed from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on Aug. 13, he said. On Oct. 15, two mediators were appointed. 
 
“The parties are responsible for reaching agreements. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service remains in contact with the parties and available to assist them in their negotiations,” said Perrotin. 
 
“The parties must put in the work at the table to get deals.”

Suthanthiran did not respond to a request for comment from the Ottawa Citizen. 

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