Wages and benefits increase in second year
“After months of difficult negotiations,” according to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 500, there is a new agreement for 4,600 inside and outside employees of the City of Winnipeg.
An earlier tentative agreement was turned down on February 18, but this one was accepted by an 85 per cent margin on March 25.
The union was in a strike position, though no deadline had been set when a conciliator was able to help the parties to reach a deal.Wages will increase by one per cent in the second year and 2.5 per cent in the third and fourth. A new top step was added for the two classes of Customer Service Representatives.
Modest increases in premiums and benefits will be made, but only in the second year of the agreement.
In addition to the negotiated increases, $150,000 will be available in the second year and $950,000 in the fourth year to fund wage adjustments and benefit improvements.
The Education and Staff Development Fund was cut to $250,000 per year from $500,000 in the previous contract.
Finally, employees continue to have job security for the term of the agreement.
The new agreement between OPSEU and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario was “the best possible deal under the circumstances,” according to the union.
It bows to the provincial government’s two-year wage freeze for the first two years, followed by 2.6 per cent in each of the final two, but has one or two extra paid personal days in each of the contract’s four years for a total of five days off.
