Bargaining successes

Across Canada, in all economic sectors, Steelworkers are standing strong at bargaining tables and on picket lines to improve their working and living standards. Recent bargaining successes include:

Local 7135 • Rail car workers win strike against employer’s woeful track record
The 1,475 members at National Steel Car in Hamilton waged a six-week strike to win key improvements at their rail car manufacturing plant, where three workers were killed on the job in a 21-month span. Improved safety provisions include an additional health and safety representative in the workplace. The three-year agreement includes total wage increases of 13%, a $1,000 signing bonus, additional increases for skilled trades workers and gains on pensions, shift premiums, benefits and safety boot allowances.

Local 206G • Glassmakers shatter employer’s hardline bargaining pattern
Having long endured attempts by their employer to erode working conditions, members at the Owens Illinois glass factory in Pointe-Saint-Charles, Que., took a stand and won significant contract gains following a nearly eight-week strike. Wage increases range from 14% to 20% over three years and members won substantial improvements to their pension and benefits plans. The workers manufacture beer bottles and other glass containers at the century-old plant, the only facility of its kind in Quebec.

Local 1-423 • Insulation workers secure protection from over-heated inflation
Following a nearly eight-week strike, members at Rockwool Industries in Grand Forks, B.C., secured economic gains to counter cost-of-living increases. A three-year contract provides total wage increases of 13%, including 6% in the first year, as well as a $4,000 signing bonus. The employer-funded group RRSP is being increased and vacation entitlement has been expanded to include seven weeks of vacation after 25 years’ service. The workers produce insulation for residential, commercial and industrial uses.

Local 1998 • University members give employer lesson on work-life balance
Some 5,800 administrative and technical staff members at the University of Toronto reached a three-year agreement to recover lost ground from Ontario’s unconstitutional Bill 124 which previously restricted collective bargaining. The deal provides total wage increases of 12.8%, with 9% in the first year. Members addressed work-life balance issues with improved language on alternative work arrangements, overtime and workloads and secured a fifth personal leave day each year.

Local 7531 • Bleach factory workers brighten their future with five-year deal
Steelworkers at the Nouryon factory in Magog, Que., who manufacture paper-bleaching products, negotiated a five-year contract with total wage hikes of 27%, including 16% in the first year. The significant increases also apply to all premiums and bonuses. The new contract officially defines the role of union health and safety representatives and improves the terms of a phased retirement program.

Local 1-207 • Grocery workers’ persistence bears fruit
Persistence paid off for workers at the Direct Charge Co-op grocery store in Yellowknife, N.W.T., who rejected two contract offers from the employer before reaching a fair deal on a third offer. The five-year agreement includes 9% wage increases, signing bonuses and the addition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a paid holiday.

Locals 5795, 6731 • Mine workers won’t be taken for granite; extract rock-solid contract
Some 1,500 workers at Iron Ore Company of Canada operations in Labrador City, N.L., negotiated total wage increases of 18.25% over five years, which will be boosted further by cost-of-living provisions and an increased northern living allowance. Members also made gains on pensions and benefits, including a long-sought elimination of a lifetime cap on prescription drug coverage.

Local 7065 • Aluminum smelter workers prove their mettle with big wage gains
Some 140 employees of Métallurgie Brasco Entretien, a subcontractor to the Alouette aluminum smelter in Sept-Îles, Que., ratified a three-year contract with first-year wage hikes of 17% to 20% and total increases ranging from 24.25% up to 27.25%. The agreement increases various premiums as well as employer contributions to the benefits plan and the workers’ pension interests through the Quebec Federation of Labour’s Fonds de solidarité.

Local 2009 • Respect your elders – and your workers – retirement home staff say
Contract language on respectful workplaces was among the improvements in a deal reached by Compass – AgeCare employees working at five retirement homes in Victoria, Vancouver and Maple Ridge, B.C. Members also achieved improved provisions on scheduling, discipline and discharge, seniority and the grievance process. Language allowing lower wages for probationary employees was eliminated.

Local 7580-04 • Magris workers talc the talc, walk the walk to achieve good agreement
Members working at the Penhorwood and Foleyet operations of Magris Talc in northeastern Ontario ratified four-year agreements providing total wage increases ranging from 16.5% to 20.5%. First-year increases ranged from 7% to 11%. Improvements also were made on shift premiums, stat holidays and sick leave. Magris is North American’s largest talc producer.

Local 9599 • Iron foundry workers mould excellent first contract
In their first contract since joining the Steelworkers, members at the Soucy-Belgen iron foundry in Sainte-Claire, near Quebec City, won 22% wage increases over five years, including 10% in the first year. The agreement also calls for additional cost-of-living wage adjustments, increases in employer pension contributions and introduces paid leave for union representation.

Local 1976 • In it for the long haul, truckers deliver stronger contract and wages
Members working at Trimac’s transportation operations in Golden, B.C., made widespread improvements to modernize language throughout their collective agreement. The three-year contract provides total wage increases of 11%, including 5% in the first year and features a land acknowledgment.

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