SAINT-CONSTANT, Que. – United Steelworkers Local 6658 members have made significant gains with a renegotiation of their collective agreement with cement producer Amrize, helping pave the way for a historic, $610-million plant modernization.
The four-year contract will ensure workforce stability as Amrize moves forward with the massive modernization project, said Youssef Belgana, president of Local 6658 of the Syndicat des Métallos/United Steelworkers union, representing some 100 workers at the cement plant in Saint-Constant, south of Montreal.
The contract’s provisions include total wage increases of 14.5%, 100% reimbursement by the employer of workers’ prescription medication costs, improvements to paramedical benefits such as physical therapy, and double-time pay for workers who accept a shift on a scheduled day off.
The new collective agreement ensures labour peace throughout the plant modernization project, which will have environmental benefits and which is expected to lead to a workforce increase of 25% to 30%, Belgana said.
“We’re proud of this new contract and proud to see our plant moving toward production that creates less pollution,” he said.
The massive modernization project, announced in late June, aims to make the Saint-Constant plant the most efficient of its kind in Eastern Canada, with a projected reduction in its carbon footprint of more than 40% by 2035. Production is expected to increase to 1.2 million metric tonnes of cement per year. The project will receive $66.5 million in provincial and federal funding.
The Syndicat des Métallos/United Steelworkers, affiliated with the Quebec Federation of labour, is the largest private-sector union in Quebec, representing more than 60,000 workers across all economic sectors.
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