District 3 Racial Justice Summit lays groundwork for the future
Steelworkers from across Western Canada gathered in Langley, B.C., for the first USW Racial Justice Summit, organized by the USW National Anti-Racism Committee.
VANCOUVER – Some 3,000 unionized workers at TELUS operations in four provinces have ratified a new collective agreement with the company.
The new agreement addresses employees’ top priorities, including workplace “stability and security,” said Michael Phillips, President of Local 1944 of the United Steelworkers union (USW).
Ratification of the new collective agreement comes five months before the existing contract expires next March. The new agreement’s term is four years, nine-months, meaning it will be in effect until Dec. 31, 2031.
Union and company negotiators reached a tentative agreement on Oct. 20. Details of the tentative deal were sent to union members in advance of a series of virtual ratification meetings held over the last several days. Members voted by an 83% majority to ratify the deal.
“Our members told us they wanted stability and security in their jobs. That’s what our bargaining committee set out to achieve and we were successful, as the ratification vote shows,” Phillips said.
The new contract will provide total wage increases of 12.25%. It also will ensure stability of pensions and benefits, improve job protections related to redeployment of work, establish new limitations on GPS tracking of workers and institute new commitments related to possible reshoring of work.
The 3,000 members of USW Local 1944 include call centre and technical support workers and technicians who maintain cellular infrastructure and provide services to residential and business customers. They work throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.
A productive bargaining environment was established at the outset of negotiations, leading to a good contract that was reached relatively quickly, said USW Staff Representative Jayson Little.
“We were firm in our proposals for a fair deal that would improve and protect our members’ working conditions. Both sides brought a respectful and professional approach to the process, which allowed us to reach our goals,” Little said.
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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