Deal includes better salaries, increased vacation, improved parental leave benefits: Union
Canadian Media Guild (CMG) members at VICE Canada ratified their first collective agreement May 1, with gains in salaries and benefits, stronger equity provisions and measures to protect editorial independence, said the union.
The deal was reached after nine months of negotiations and was tentatively agreed on March 31.
In a vote, the three-year agreement received the support of 94.7 per cent of voting members, according to the union.
The collective agreement builds in pay equity provisions, provides general salary adjustments retroactive to Jan. 1, 2017, guards editorial independence, provides increased vacation, doubles the number of paid sick days, improves parental leave benefits, strengthens protections for contract employees, and defends the right to do outside work and to access fair dispute resolution processes, said CMG.
Employees will see immediate salary increases ranging from two per cent to up to 52.5 per cent based on the new negotiated salary grid, with an average salary increase of nine per cent.
"We organized because we all agreed that the long hours, creative passion, and professional experience we were investing here were not being recognized fairly by management," said Maggie McCaw, member of the CMG negotiating committee.
As a part of the new agreement, CMG and VICE will continue to do periodic assessments to ensure pay equity is maintained, said the union.
