INGERSOLL, Ont. – Following a nine-week strike, more than 200 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) union have achieved a significant victory on wage equality at IMT Defence in Ingersoll.
The workers, who were on strike since June 3, voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new, four-year collective agreement. The highlight of improvements made in the new contract is the elimination of a two-tier wage system that discriminated against new hires and existing workers with limited seniority.
“This is a great day for our members who stuck together, 24 hours a day, for the last nine weeks,” said Jay McDonnell, president of USW Local 2918, which represents the IMT workers.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the solidarity that our members showed. They were committed to the principle that everyone should be treated equally on the job,” McDonnell said.
Under the previous, two-tier wage system, IMT paid new hires about 25% less than senior workers – a wage disparity of up to $8 an hour. Workers hired under the two-tier system were kept in a different category and could never achieve the rate of pay earned by senior workers.
“This new agreement establishes a single, six-year wage progression to cover all our members. Wage adjustments will be phased out immediately so that all members now have the opportunity to earn the maximum wage,” McDonnell said. “The two-tier wage grid is something that members believed would be permanent but we fought back and we are now going to be treated equally.”
The new contract includes a general wage increase of 9% over four years. However, “some of our members will immediately receive significantly higher increases, amounting to several thousand dollars a year in some cases,” he noted.
“This is an agreement for the future,” McDonnell said, adding the wage improvements will help IMT to retain and recruit workers. He noted that more than half of the existing workers have one year of seniority or less. “This membership is stronger than ever, our membership now knows what solidarity means.”
“The turnover rate over the last four years was over 70%. The company would advertise for jobs with the top wage rate, but then people would get here and find out they could never get to that pay level.”
The new contract also creates a new work shift intended to eliminate mandatory overtime and to entice workers to accept steady weekend work, in order to meet the employer’s staffing needs. The new category calls for two 12-hour shifts, paid at time-and-a half on Saturday and double-time on Sunday, for the equivalent of 42 hours of pay. Workers on this shift will then have Monday to Friday as days off.
The contract also provides improvements to benefits, shift premiums and safety boot allowances.
“This is a significant victory for the workers at IMT Defence, who know the value of their work and who were willing to fight for fairness and better working conditions,” said Myles Sullivan, Director of USW District 6 (Ontario and Atlantic Canada).
“The skills and the hard work that these USW members bring to their jobs every day represent – by far – the single, largest contribution to the company’s success. They have earned every one of the improvements to their contract,” Sullivan said. IMT Defence manufactures military projectile bodies and vehicle systems for defence purposes.
About the United Steelworkers union:
The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.
Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of the union’s strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions.
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