Synopsis:
The members of IATSE Local 63 worked at the historic Winnipeg Arena for the building's fifty year existence. In late 2004 the arena closed its doors to make way for a new sports and entertainment facility: the MTS Centre. IATSE 63 negotiated with MTS Centre executives over an eighteen month period for the carry over of their jobs under the impression they were the only choice for the new building. Two weeks before the MTS Centre opened, IATSE's members discovered that they were being replaced by workers from a temp firm--NASCO Staffing Solutions. NASCO charges union rates but pays workers as little as half of what the company collects.
The Local is not taking things lying down. Follow the members of IATSE 63 as they fight through the courts, conciliation, informational pickets, and boycotts, trying to secure stagehand work at the MTS Centre.
IATSE's dispute with the MTS Centre is part of a larger trend in Canada. Out on the Street also looks at the decline of union density in the private sector and the role unions play for workers.