Agreement addresses underfunding issues
Support staff at Queen’s University in Kingston ratified a new agreement on August 18 in time for the new term, unlike many of their colleagues across the country.
The new contract will see wages increase by 8.5 per cent over four years with the increases weighted toward the end of the term.
The Tuition Assistance Fund for spouses and children of employees will increase from $60,000 per year to $100,000 over the four years.
Employee pension contributions will increase from 4.5 per cent to the YMPE to seven per cent by the end of the agreement and from six per cent to nine per cent above the YMPE.
One contentious point on which compromise was reached was the penalty for early retirement. Originally, the university proposal was to increase the actuarial reduction for retirement between ages 60 and 65 from two per cent per year to six per cent. The final reduction agreed upon was three per cent.
The agreement between Xstrata Nickel and the United Steelworkers for the remote Raglan Mine in extreme northern Quebec contains numerous provisions to deal with the unique demands of the location.
The mine has an agreement with the Inuit of the region and a joint committee at the mine meets three times a year to deal with issues specific to Inuit employees.
In order to improve the work-life balance of the non-indigenous members of the workforce who fly in, new shift schedules are being proposed. They would lower the amount of time employees spend at the site from roughly two-thirds of the year to only half.
