Improvements made in job security, job posting
Yet again, union negotiators are describing the bargaining environment in Ontario as “challenging.”
Dave Reston, union chair for the Canadian Auto Workers at the Brantford Casino, came to that conclusion after a new agreement for three Ontario casinos was ratified.
The margins were solid, including a 91 per cent at Woodbine Racetrack. This could translate into “a more engaged membership,”according to Henry Kosiak, the local chair.
The agreement provides lump sums of $1,000 for full-time and $650 for part-time employees in each of the first two years. In the third and fourth years, wage increases will be 2.5 per cent. There is also a “me-too” for improvements in benefits.
Vacation for part-time employees is allocated as both full weeks and single days. This has apparently been popular, because at the eight-year level, one full week has been made into single days, for a total of 10 individual days per year.
A letter of understanding reminds employees of the need to keep the workplace clean and tidy, but stresses that discipline does not attach to this requirement.
Workers at the Sivaco plant in Marieville, Quebec were forced to make several monetary concessions to the company, which manufactures nails and wire.
United Steelworkers Local 6818 president Steve Gauthier suggested that a very different process of bargaining may have influenced the outcome.
He pointed to talks that started late, progressed sporadically and went on longer than in the past. Conciliation was used. The company’s final offer was sent by e-mail.
From the local’s viewpoint, he credited a more thorough preparation with gains in contract language demands.
