Tentative contract at Health PEI; Lufa Farms workers join UFCW
Flex-N-Gate workers in Windsor, Ont. ratify deal
WINDSOR, Ont. — Unifor, Local 195 members at Flex-N-Gate in Windsor, Ont. ratified a new three-year collective agreement on May 18.
The union represents 650 workers at the plant which supplies auto parts for the Ford F-150, Bronco and Ranger as well as the Stellantis plants in Windsor and Brampton. Members voted 73 per cent in favour of the new contract, says the union.
The new collective agreement provides a signing bonus and improves wages and health and pension benefits. Gains were also made to members’ bereavement leave, life insurance benefits and vision care, says Unifor.
The union also negotiated new commitments from the employer to invest in the plant and give workers the right to bid on future replacement work. Equity language was also strengthened including expanded training hours for the women’s advocate position and the company agreed to recognize March 21 as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, says the union.
The term of the three-year agreement ends on May 17, 2024.
Tentative contract at Health PEI
Charlottetown — A tentative agreement was reached in the contract talks between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Prince Edward Island government on May 13.
The four CUPE locals (805, 1051, 1778 and 1779), who represent more than 1,000 workers in health-care classifications such as orderlies, utility workers, cooks, ward clerks, maintenance trades, sterile processing technicians, power engineers, painters, cashiers agreed tentatively to a new collective agreement, says the union.
The contract expired on March 31, 2020, and they had been in negotiations since November 2020, says CUPE.
Lufa Farms workers join UFCW
LAVAL, Que. — Workers at Lufa Farms in Laval, Qu. are the newest members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) Canada, Local 501, following the recent certification on May 17 of the new bargaining unit by Quebec’s Administrative Labour Tribunal (ALT).
The application for certification was filed after a majority of workers at Lufa Farms supported representation by Local 501, says the union.
The employees at Lufa Farm’s urban greenhouse facilities chose to join UFCW to gain better working conditions, stronger occupational health and safety, and a consistent wage schedule, says UFCW.
UFCW 501 represents 19,000 union members working at more than 410 companies.
Gains for B&J employees with agreement
NEW LOWELL, Ont. — Employees of B&J Contracting, based in New Lowell, Ont., ratified a new collective agreement on May 12 providing them with increases to wages and pension contributions.
The employees are represented by Construction Workers Union, CLAC Local 52. The union has represented B&J Contracting employees since 2015.
The three-year contract provides wage increases of more than 13 per cent over the term, says the union.
“Despite some initial challenges early in the negotiations, the union bargaining committee worked hard to find the compromises necessary to get the big wage and pension improvements members wanted to see,” says Robert Brink, CLAC representative.
