New contract for retirement home workers; Strike ends with new deal at Coca-Cola
Welland, Ont. city workers request ‘no-board’
WELLAND, Ont. — The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 1115 requested a “no-board” report on April 6 from the Ontario labour ministry, which will kick off a 17-day countdown until the union or the City of Welland, Ont. can initiate a legal strike or lockout.
The union is citing the need for improvements to layoff protection and city-proposed reduction to the STD plan as the major barriers toward a deal at this point, says CUPE.
“This is a situation we thought we could avoid by coming to the table with fairly modest proposals in this round of bargaining,” says Steve Leavitt, spokesperson for CUPE 1115. “Now they are seeking reductions to workers’ STD plan at a time when COVID-19 cases are rising and the province has just gone into full lockdown, but the vast majority of our members are going into the workplace.”
The union — which represents 78 inside workers for the City of Welland — has been meeting with the city’s negotiating team and provincial conciliator since March 10, says CUPE.
The next meeting between the two sides is scheduled for April 19, says the union.
New contract for retirement home workers
LONDON, Ont. — The United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), Local 175 members at Windermere on the Mount Retirement Residence in London, Ont. recently achieved a new collective agreement on April 1.
With the assistance of conciliation on the final day of bargaining, the union negotiating committee achieved an agreement with wage adjustments and an additional statutory holiday starting in 2023.
The new agreement contains language that allows for better vacation selection and removes barriers so employees may switch shifts when necessary. The new contract also includes improved bereavement leave, says UFCW.
Wages for members will increase by two per cent in each year of the agreement. In addition, most classifications will receive rate adjustments of $0.10 per hour in year two, $0.10 per hour in year three, and $0.15 per hour in the fourth year, says the union.
In addition, members will benefit from increased vision- care coverage of $225, up from $200, and a shoe allowance of $70 every two years, says UFCW.
The agreement covers 32 full-time employees at Windermere on the Mount Retirement Residence.
Strike ends with new deal at Coca-Cola
CALGARY — Teamsters, Local Union 987 reached a new collective agreement with Coca-Cola Canada on April 1.
About 268 workers at the Coca-Cola Refreshments Calgary plant had been on strike since March 15.
Plant workers had been without a collective agreement since October 2020 and membership voted 73 per cent in favour of the new agreement, says the union.
The new collective agreement includes improved language that will provide employees with a stronger sense of job security with the company and includes: improved language regarding protection from third-party outsourced positions, opportunities for drivers to move into a warehouse role if they are not securing hours for their routes, a nine-per-cent wage increase over six years and an increase in maximum severance from 48 to 72 weeks, says Teamsters.
“Our membership spoke clearly that there were areas they wanted improved to create a successful workplace,” says Brock Penner, business agent, Teamsters Local 987.
