New 3-year deal for Vancouver city workers; 3-day strike at B.C. zinc mine ends
Winnipeg clinic ratifies new agreement
WINNIPEG — Workers at the Winnipeg Clinic, represented by the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union (MGEU), Local 363, ratified a new four-year agreement on June 15.
Highlights include wage increases in each year of the agreement, increases to the uniform allowance, and new contract language around flexible hours of work and compassionate care leave, says the union.
New 3-year deal for Vancouver city workers
VANCOUVER — Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 15 members who work at the City of Vancouver, Vancouver Parks, Britannia Centre and Ray-Cam Cooperative Centre ratified a three-year agreement on June 10.
The agreement — retroactive to Jan. 1, 2020 — remains in effect until Dec. 31, 2022.
“We are pleased that we were able to achieve a compensation package that was acceptable to our members,” says Warren Williams, CUPE 15 president.
As well as benefit improvements including contraceptive coverage and mutually agreed- upon housekeeping language, the contract addresses gender-specific contract language, says the union.
Workers will receive wage increases of 0.5 per cent retroactive to Jan. 1, 2020, and an additional 1.5 per cent on Dec. 31, 2020 (for a total of two per cent in 2020), as well as increases of two per cent on Jan. 1 of 2021 and 2022, says CUPE.
The agreement covers about 3,500 members.
3-day strike at B.C. zinc mine ends
COMOX-STRATHCONA, B.C. — Unifor members at the Trafigura Myra Falls mine in Comox-Strathcona, B.C. ratified a new three-year collective agreement on June 15, ending a brief strike.
The new agreement includes a $2-per-hour wage increase (six per cent on average) in year one, followed by 2.5 per cent and two per cent in years two and three. The 320 employees will also see improvements to the pension plan and stronger protections against contracting out, says Unifor.
“The strike was a much-needed show of strength that paid off,” says John Humphrey, president of Unifor, Local 3019. “With strong international mineral prices, it was an advantageous time to be bargaining and we took advantage of that.”
Alberta seniors home workers join USW
Medicine Hat, Alta. — The United Steelworkers (USW) welcomed 80 workers from the Wellington Retirement Residence in Medicine Hat, Alta., who voted overwhelmingly to join the union on June 15 in a ballot overseen by the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB).
“The pandemic has certainly put a focus on the difficult working conditions that health-care workers face every day on the job,” says Stephen Hunt, USW director for Western Canada.
Over the next few months, the union and workers will begin negotiating workplace improvements with the employer. Once a tentative collective agreement is in place, the workers will be able to vote to accept the contract.
“We look forward to working with our new members to negotiate their first contract,” says Pablo Guerra, USW district 3 organizing coordinator.
