Trench Group Brief

Main topic: Bargaining with Trench Ltd. after acquisition by Triton investment firm.

Overview:#

Trench Ltd. is an electrical manufacturing company specializing in high-voltage technology, was recently acquired by Triton, a European-based hedge fund, early 2024.
Trench was previously part of the Siemens Canada group of companies.
Trench Ltd. has 180 unionized employees (Unifor 303) in its Scarborough location, with trades including welding, crane operation, material handling, test lab technicians, and assembly workers.
Trench Ltd. also has a Unifor represented workplace in Pickering established in 2013 by Siemens (Unifor 303) with approx. 200 members.
Globally, Trench Ltd. employs 2400 workers across 9 factories.
Trench's main customers are public sector electrical utilities.

Triton is a European hedge fund with offices across UK and Europe with one office in each of New York and China.
It manages €18 billion raised through investors, has €24B in revenue, and operates 50 companies acquired from over 100 acquisitions. Its companies employ 100,000 workers.
Triton's current investment strategy focuses on acquiring companies on the edge of the energy transition market, with an emphasis on high-end technology, with a stated ESG focus, with investments tied to energy transition, healthcare, and related manufacturing.
The acquisition of Trench Ltd. is likely part of Triton's strategy to balance higher-risk investments with established businesses to generate profits and fund riskier start-up investments.
Triton has no office presence in Canada, and Trench Ltd. might be their first Canadian presence.

President and CEO: Dr. Bahadir Basdere
Trench has established itself as a stand-alone firm without the support of Siemens to compete in the broader field of energy transition in the growing specialized electricity technology sector.
The CEO's message emphasizes the company's "ethical behavior" in meeting regulatory standards, possibly due to their primary customers being large public utilities.
The company policy indicates they will apply minimum legal standards where they operate, suggesting operations in regions where corruption is prevalent.
The corporate culture narrative focuses on tech innovation and recruiting younger talent.
Open positions are primarily supervisory, management, and oversight tech roles.
Job postings for 6-month interns at the Scarborough location do not appear to be under the collective agreement.

Triton's investment strategy suggests a focus on profit generation from Trench and opens the potential for restructuring or carve-outs.
The emphasis on ethical behavior and minimum legal standards raises concerns about potential compliance and operational risks in Trench's overseas businesses.
The focus on tech innovation and recruitment of younger talent shows it is trying to advertise as a sort of climate technology company.
Current job postings for interns (if outside the collective agreement) should be monitored as a scab risk.
Unifor should monitor Triton's actions closely for any indications of restructuring, asset stripping, or changes in operations that could impact the workforce or the Canadian operations.

Across the private sector, wage increases in GTA have been 4.9% this year so far according to the government.

The inflation rate in Ontario/Canada from 2021 to 2024: 15% (4.8% per year) in Ontario, 14% nationally.

Settlements 2024:

Employer Name	Increase (%)	Number of Employees
Brampton Brick Limited	6.2	30
BWXT Medical Ltd.	4.3	140
Byers Bush Powder Coating Inc	4.6	12
Durasystems Barriers Inc.	3.5	30
Fleming and Baron	3.5	150
Lafarge Ready Mix	3.5	11
Moulure Alexandria Moulding Inc	5.3	311
Reynolds Consumer Products Canada Inc.	4.9	39
Schwartz Chemical Corporation	3.4	18
Shell Canada Ltd	4.0	226
Steelway Building Systems	6.2	131
Strada Aggregates Inc.	4.4	16
Thermal Ceramics Canada Inc.	5.4	17
Utility Structures Inc	3.4	45
Zalev Brothers Co	3.7	26