Thunder Bay, Ont. (633 skilled trade manufacturing employees) and Unifor, Local 1075
Renewal agreement: Effective June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2023. Ratified in October 2020. Signed on Oct. 7, 2020.
Wage adjustments:
Effective June 1, 2020: 4%
Effective June 1, 2021: 0.2%
Effective June 1, 2022: 0.2%
Shift premium: $0.90 per hour for afternoon shift starting at 3 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. $1.15 per hour for midnight shifts starting at 11 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. Team-leads receive $1.20 per hour over own classification rate. $0.50 per hour for welders and weld inspectors. $1.20 per hour for academy trainers.
Paid holidays: 14 days including 4 floating days.
Vacations with pay: 2 weeks after 1 year, 3 weeks after 5 years, 4 weeks after 10 years, 5 weeks after 17 years, 6 weeks after 23 years.
Overtime: Time and one-half for first 3 hours worked in excess of regular working hours and double time thereafter. Work performed on Saturday will be paid at time and one-half for first 4 hours and double time thereafter. Double time for all hours on Sunday. Employees will be provided with opportunity to save 1 week of banked time per calendar year (Jan. 1 to Dec. 31) which can be used as minimum of 1 hour to 40 hours continuous.
Meal allowance: $11 or hot meal in cafeteria for employees working 3 hours or more of overtime.
Medical benefits: Employer pays 100% of premiums.
Dental: Employer pays 100% of premiums for full coverage of basic services, partial coverage of major services. Maximum benefit of $3,000 per insured family member per year.
Vision: Employer pays 100% of premiums for eye exams ($80 every 2 years) and prescription glasses, contact lenses ($200 per family member every 2 years; $200 every year for children younger than 18).
Weekly indemnity: Employer pays 100% of premiums for sickness or accident up to 52 weeks.
Sick leave: 3 days’ pay from first day of sickness.
STD: Employer pays 100% of premiums for 66/23% of base salary up to $600 per week for non-industrial accidents or sickness.
LTD: Employer pays 100% of premiums for 75% of weekly indemnity benefits for up to 260 weeks following exhaustion of weekly indemnity plan.
AD&D: Employer pays 100% of premiums for coverage of $40,000.
Life insurance: Employer pays 100% of premiums for coverage of $50,000.
Pension: Non-contributory pension plan.
Bereavement leave: 5 consecutive paid working days for death of spouse, child, stepchild, parent, sibling. 3 consecutive paid working days for death of grandparent, parent-in-law, stepparent of employee or employee’s spouse, spouse’s grandparent, stepsibling, sibling-in-law, grandchild.
Seniority – recall rights: 1 year for employees with 60 days to 12 months’ service. 3 years for employees with 1 year to 6 years’ service. One-half seniority for employees with 6 years’ service and over. 12 months for employees promoted to positions in management.
Call-in pay: Minimum 4 hours’ pay when called back to work extra time after completing shift and clocking out.
Probationary period: 60 working days. Employer reserves right to extend period to 70 days. (60 working days will not necessarily be 60 continuous working days. However, if employee is laid off prior to completion of probationary period, and layoff period is greater than time worked for employer, then employee, when rehired, will not get credit for time already put in).
Discipline: Sunset clause is 12 months for notices of discipline against employee.
Severance: 1 week for each completed year of continuous employment up to maximum of 26 weeks for layoff related to any full or partial plant closure.
Safety shoes: $180 per year.
Uniforms/clothing: Employer provides protective clothing where necessary. $155 annual coveralls allowance for welders/skilled trades.
Sample rates of hourly pay (current maximum, after 0.4% increase):
Cleaner: $27.32 rising 2 steps to $27.42
Finisher/floor installer/machine operator general NC/material expediter/overhead crane operator/power-brake operator/power-shear operator/power-tube bender/pressure-die setter/radial-drill operator/resistance-welding operator/saw operator/surface preparer/vehicle driver/welding brazing/metal processor/timekeeper/machine cleaner: $27.62 rising 2 steps to $29.02
Electrical-test technician/glass-cloth worker/mechanical inspector/mechanical tester/weld inspector/welder/trainer/bonder: $28.92 rising 2 steps to $29.02
Editor’s notes: Late start: Employees starting more than 3 minutes late will lose 15 minutes’ pay; more than 18 minutes loses one-half hour’s pay. Neglecting to punch in or out results in one-quarter-hour penalty. Paid education leave: Employer will pay $0.02 per hour per employee for all compensated hours into special fund to provide paid education leave. Prescription safety glasses: Employer will supply prescription safety glasses for employees with prescriptions. Deceased employees: If employee should die while on employer payroll, vacation pay which stands to employee’s credit will accrue to estate. Training programs: Employees participating in night-school courses related to employment will be reimbursed 37.5% of tuition at time of enrolment and another 37.5% upon proof of successful completion. Textbook cost will be reimbursed at 100% at time of enrolment. Retirement payment: Employer will provide lump-sum retirement pay of $250 per year of seniority for employees who retire during life of agreement.
