Bargaining successes

Local 1976 • A twist of freight: railway workers’ engine-uity delivers contracting-out breakthrough

Resolving a longstanding concern over contracting out is a major achievement in a new contract reached by USW Local 1976 members working at Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) railway operations across the country. The agreement calls for outsourced jobs at CPKC intermodal terminals to gradually become USW positions, increasing the union’s membership. The deal includes total wage increases of 12% and improvements to benefits, premiums and language related to disciplinary hearings. The 600 members work in clerical, intermodal, police communications and car compound positions.

Locals 5778, 6869, 7401, 8664 • Iron ore miners extract ferrous-possible contract

Following a near-unanimous strike vote, 2,500 Steelworkers at ArcelorMittal operations in Fermont and Port-Cartier, Que., won a historic, five-year contract with total wage increases ranging from 26% to 30% and defined-benefit pension improvements that will add $300 to the monthly benefit as well as maintain indexing. The agreement increases bonuses, adds the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday, introduces a new floating holiday and creates a new joint committee to address dust-related concerns in the concentrator and crusher facilities at the Mont-Wright mine.

Local 1-1937 • No penny-pinching in copper miners’ deal

Monetary gains including total wage increases of 13.75% and copper bonus improvements were among the highlights of a four-year agreement for members at the Newmont Red Chris Mine in northern British Columbia. The contract also improves premiums, health benefits, travel allowances, vacation pay as well as language on contracting out and a drug and alcohol testing policy. Red Chris Mine produces copper and gold.

Local 16506-37 • Quarry workers crush it at bargaining table

Some 150 members at the Lafarge Dundas Quarry operations in Hamilton won monetary gains including general wage increases of 9% over three years. The deal also provided an immediate market adjustment of 50 cents an hour, an additional increase for skilled trades and improved pensions, benefits, shift premiums and tool allowances. As well, a newly organized group of four women working in the quarry’s scale house were rolled into the existing contract, thereby receiving better benefits than if they were separated into their own unit as the employer had sought.

Local 7656 • Potash producers find fertile ground to enrich contract

Members who produce potash at the Mosaic Colonsay operations in central Saskatchewan secured a three-year agreement with total wage increases of 10%, including retroactive pay hikes to May 1, 2024. The new contract improves pensions as well as shift and weekend premiums and provides language requiring the employer to pay the wages of the union’s bargaining committee members during negotiations.

Local 8328 • Tube makers’ strong connections bring fitting end to lockout

Unwavering solidarity through a four-week, mid-winter lockout produced significant gains in a three-year contract for 340 members at Welded Tube in Vaughan, Ont. The deal includes total wage hikes of 10%, a $2,000 signing bonus, improvements in health and welfare benefits, short- and long-term disability payments, the defined benefit pension plan and full-time union leave provisions. Members manufacture steel pipe and tube used in buildings, industry and infrastructure.

Locals 7065, 9291 • No kiddin’ around, child-care workers’ perseverance pays off

Persevering through two years of frustrating negotiations, USW members at three Quebec child-care centres won five-year contracts raising wages by 17.5% and providing cost-of-living adjustments. The contracts increase the starting wage to $25.15 an hour, establish new overtime premiums that range from $7 to $17 per hour, improve vacation pay and increase the employer’s contribution to the group benefits plan. Members work at child-care centres in Port-Cartier, Rouyn-Noranda and Matagami.

Locals 838, 2784, 8300 • Steelworkers and Starbucks baristas: a perfect matcha

Following groundbreaking victories in their campaign to join the USW, workers at five Starbucks locations in Ontario recently celebrated another milestone by negotiating their first collective agreements with the coffee giant. Two-year contracts cover baristas at two Starbucks locations in Waterloo and stores in Kitchener, Ajax and Toronto. The agreements provide 2.5% annual wage increases and codify protections and improvements of rights and conditions on key issues including health and safety, scheduling and so-called shift borrowing, which affects wages and eligibility for benefits.

Locals 5890, 6673 • Pipe mill workers’ joint effort a conduit to bargaining success

Joint bargaining resulted in widespread gains for members of Local 5890 (Regina) and Local 6673 (Calgary) at Evraz NA steel and pipe manufacturing operations. The four-year contract’s first year includes a $3.49/hour cost-of-living wage adjustment, a $2,000 signing bonus and increased annual bonuses for pensioners and spouses. The following three years will see total wage hikes of 6% and improvements in the defined-benefit pension plan. The contract provides new coverage for chiropractic, massage and physiotherapy, improves short-term and long-term disability benefits and a wage top-up for members on military leave.

Local 9065 • Electrical workers generate buzz for bright future

Nearly 300 members at the ABB manufacturing plant in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., ratified a two-year contract giving them wage increases of 4% each year. The agreement also improves vacations and restores time-and-a-half payment for overtime worked on Saturdays, which was a key demand of members. The deal is seen as a transition agreement linked to the company’s plan to open a new plant by 2027. ABB produces electrical boxes, connectors and other components.

Local 2010 • University workers put to the test to earn degree of fairness

Facing extremely difficult bargaining with Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., Local 2010 members achieved a three-year contract with improvements in wages, job security, union protections and workload management. The agreement provides total wage increases of 7.5%, significant market adjustments, language improvements in areas including term appointments and redeployment options in the event of layoffs, stronger protections ensuring the right to address unmanageable workloads and a letter of understanding to combat casualization and safeguard union security. The agreement covers 1,200 suppport staff at Queen’s.

Local 3239 • Foundry workers’ iron will forges new mold for benefits

Membership solidarity at the Ancast Industries foundry in Winnipeg produced a settlement addressing the workers’ top issue in bargaining – the cost of health benefits. The three-year agreement establishes a mandatory 50/50 co-payment for extended health and vision benefits, replacing the previous system of voluntary participation with costs paid entirely by workers. The contract also provides total wage hikes of 10.5%, a 10% increase to shift premiums, as well as improved pensions and meal, boot and tool allowances.

Local 7531 • Good deal flows from water filter producers’ fluid bargaining relationship

Members at the Technologie de fibre Aikawa (AFT) manufacturing plant in Lennoxville, Que., won a four-year agreement with a 5% wage hike in the first year, followed by increases ranging from 2.6% to 3.5% in each of the following three years, according to inflation rates. The contract also features significant increases in premiums, bonuses and the employer’s contribution to a group RRSP, and provides an additional day of paid family or sick leave. The 130 members manufacture filters for the pulp and paper industry and wastewater treatment plants.

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