Thirteen Goderich families are facing a bleak holiday season after ASAP Secured Inc. locked out its employees.
The ASAP Secured employees, members of United Steelworkers Local 9597, reported to work Sunday to discover they were locked out.
ASAP Secured has a contract to provide security services at the Compass Minerals operations in Goderich.
After joining the United Steelworkers in 2016, the workers have been trying for several months to negotiate their first collective agreement. In June, they voted unanimously to reject a contract offer from the company. The major issue in the negotiations is wages.
The lockout came after the union advised that it would be applying for first-contract arbitration as a result of changes made to Ontario's labour laws under Bill 148.
After the union files its application at the beginning of January, an arbitrated, first-contract settlement could be reached within a few weeks.