After merging with the Steelworkers earlier this year, workers at Magellan Aerospace in Kitchener, Ont., have made numerous gains in negotiating their first USW collective agreement, while also resisting employer demands for concessions.
The Magellan employees, who previously negotiated collective agreements as members of an employee association, became members of USW Local 2021 after officially merging with the Steelworkers last spring.
The 44 members of Local 2021, who manufacture aircraft parts, recently ratified a three-year agreement that provides an immediate 4.5% wage increase, to be followed by increases of 3% in the contract’s second year and 2% in the third year, for total wage hikes of 9.5%.
The workers also won improvements to their shift premiums and provisions on bereavement leave, short-term disability, dental benefits and vision care benefits. They also successfully rebuffed the employer’s demands for concessions.
The collective agreement includes a contracting-out clause, provisions for retiree benefits and contributions to the Steelworkers Humanity Fund. The new contract will be in effect until October 2025.
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