Seven-year deal provides wage increase of 17.5 per cent: CUPE
Workers at the Town of Mount Royal in Quebec — who gathered at a general union meeting on the evening of Jan. 23 — voted 73 per cent in favour of a new collective agreement.
It covers a seven-year period from Jan. 1, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2021 and calls for a total wage increase of 17.5 per cent; 7.05% retroactively for the three years that have passed and a total of 10.45 per cent for the coming four years, said the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
“The Mount-Royal blue-collar workers — who are CUPE members — displayed a conciliatory attitude by accepting the employer’s proposal,” said Stéphane Paré, CUPE union representative. “The important thing is that they were able to freely express themselves with respect to a clear proposal. Such is the mandate that the tutor of CUPE 301 established for all bargaining cases.”
Under the terms of the agreement, 11 workers will be switched from auxiliary to permanent status and the minimum employee level will be set at 59 permanent employees. An additional floating holiday was negotiated and leave of this type shall be divided up and calculated in hours going forward, said the union.
The employer must fill positions no more than 30 days after they have become vacant. In addition, the clause on the working clothes of the auxiliaries has been improved. Disciplinary action by the employer will be imposed within three months instead of six. Any such action taken shall remain on file for 12 months instead of 18 if there has not been a recurrence, according to CUPE.
