USW, NorSask sign 5-year contract; Myra Falls miners go on strike
Interlake school employees ratify deal
GIMLI, Man. — School custodians, trade workers and mechanics, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 2972, and the Interlake School Division in Gimli, Man. ratified a new collective agreement on June 9.
“The agreement between CUPE 2972 and Interlake School Division is the second school support staff contract that defies the [Manitoba Premier Brian] Pallister wage freeze and includes raises in line with those agreed to by school divisions and the Manitoba Teachers’ Society,” says Lee McLeod, CUPE regional director.
Wage increases are in line with recently negotiated teachers’ agreements and are retroactive: 1.6 per cent in 2019, 1.4 in 2020, 0.5 in 2021, and a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2022, says the union.
The agreement helps set a pattern for school support staff in Manitoba, following CUPE 3164’s similar wage settlement at Evergreen School Division announced on June 8, says CUPE.
CUPE 2972 represents about 45 school support staff at the Interlake School Division, including custodians, trades and bus mechanics.
USW, NorSask sign 5-year contract
Meadow Lake, Sask. — The United Steelworkers (USW), Local 1-184 and NorSask Forest Products signed a five-year collective bargaining agreement for members at the sawmill’s operation, in Meadow Lake, Sask.
The new agreement contains provisions for substantial wage increases, a signing bonus and substantial improvements in benefits, contracting-out language, grievance language and the membership becoming part of the Steelworker Humanity Fund as well as recognizing National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21) as a new statutory holiday, says the union.
However, the most impactful language negotiated between the two parties is the ground-breaking recognition and reconciliation language, according to USW: “NorSask Forest Products LP and the United Steelworkers union enter into this agreement recognizing and acknowledging that we operate on the traditional lands of the Cree and Assiniboine signatories of Treaty 6 dedicated to ensuring that the spirit of Treaty 6 is honoured and respected.”
The new five-year agreement was ratified on June 9 by an overwhelming majority of USW members at the operation, says the union.
NorSask Forest Products employs 85 USW members.
Myra Falls miners go on strike
COMOX-STRATHCONA, B.C. — More than 300 members of Unifor, Local 3019, began strike action on June 3 at the Myra Falls mine in Comox-Strathcona, B.C.
The miners are striking to force the company to honour its commitment from the 2017 round of bargaining, when temporary concessions were agreed to as part of a strategy to restart the mine and get it back on its feet, says Unifor.
“Unifor is not going to stand by while a wildly profitable company goes back on its word,” says Jerry Dias, Unifor national president. “We negotiated the collective agreement in good faith and expect the company to uphold its promise to workers.”
The workers haven’t received a wage increase since 2014 and are seeking to share in the wealth generated by a strong rebound in mineral prices, says the union.
