Canadian Labour Reporter

2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2019 Port McNeill, B.C., IGA retail workers ratify contract PORT MCNEILL, B.C. — Unit- ed Food and Commercial Work- ers union (UFCW) Canada, Local 1518 members working at IGA in Port McNeill, B.C., ratified a new collective agreement on Jan. 5. The deal comes after a long battle, including three rounds of mediation at the B.C. Labour Re- lations Board, said the union. The 60 food-retail employees at IGA rejected the employer's first offer and took a successful strike vote, according to UFCW. "Members know what they are worth, and they sent a clear mes- sage that they expect to be treat- ed fairly and with respect," said Patrick Johnson, UFCW 1518 ex- ecutive assistant. At a time when wages in the private sector are stagnant, the agreement provides a two per cent wage increase in each year of the four-year deal, retroactive to Oct. 2017, in addition to a $50 gift- card signing bonus. As well, the employer will now match RRSP contributions for two tax years and implement paid funeral leave for stepfamily members, said the union. "The union was also successful in preventing the employer from adding a third excluded manage- ment position, which is an impor- tant win," said Johnson. UFCW Canada Local 1518 represents more than 20,000 members working in a range of industries across B.C. and Yukon, including the retail food, commu- nity health, seasonal agriculture and professional-service sectors. Retirement lodge staff in Midland, Ont., join UFCW MIDLAND, Ont. — Health-care workers at Villa Retirement Lodge in Midland, Ont., are the new- est members of United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW), Local 175 after voting on Jan. 2 to join the union. The retirement home workers won their certification vote after only a week and a half of organiz- ing. The new bargaining unit is comprised of eight full- and part- time resident attendants at the retirement home, located about 40 minutes north of Barrie, Ont., according to the union. Employees at the home joined the union to gain better job security and to negotiate specific language around vacations. Other reasons for joining included bet- ter wages and benefits and ad- dressing issues around short- staffing, said UFCW. Media production deal signed TORONTO — A new collective agreement was ratified on Dec. 18 after NABET 700-M Unifor reached a deal with the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) that includes wage in- creases, a new women's represen- tative and stronger language to address workplace harassment. "Our relationship with Cana- dian producers has never been stronger," said Jonathan Ahee, NABET 700-M Unifor president. "We were able to address our mu- tual concerns at the bargaining table and can now return our fo- cus to ensuring Ontario remains globally competitive so we can continue to build our world class, screen-based industry." The agreement features wage increases of three per cent in each year of the three-year term, which is the highest yearly wage increase in its history, said the union. The bargaining committee ne- gotiated the implementation of a women's representative training program, said Unifor. LABOUR BRIEFS FORMERLY CLV REPORTS Serving labour relations professionals since 1956 www.labour-reporter.com Published weekly by omson Reuters Canada Ltd. 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