Contract Settlement Offer Reached!
Note: Important voting information below
As you recall, members rejected the employer’s prior settlement offer by over 90%. With that strong rejection and the reasons behind it, your union negotiating committee returned to the table with WOW! Factor negotiators for improvements. Your bargaining committee is pleased to announce that because of your strong rejection, the employer improved their offer!
Your co-workers from your union negotiating committee unanimously recommend accepting the employer’s improved offer.
After a delay beyond the parties’ control, we returned to the bargaining table on January 16th and 17th. With the assistance of a government appointed mediator, your committee and WOW! Factor Desserts have reached a Memorandum of Agreement for you to vote on.
Significant monetary changes to the prior offer were achieved, including additional increases to pay rates throughout the scales and an immediate bonus payment.
The employer has offered a combination “lump sum and signing bonus” that is based on your length of service as a current employee as follows:
- If you were hired prior to January 1, 2022, you will receive $2000.00
- If you were hired between January 1, 2022 and September 30, 2022, you will receive $1000.00
- If you were hired between October 1, 2022 and date of ratification you will receive $500.00
Top rated and overscale members will receive increases of:
- $0.50 on the Sunday after ratification
- an additional $0.75 January 1, 2024
- an additional $0.75 January 1, 2025
- and an additional $0.85 on January 1, 2026
This amounts to a total wage increase of $2.85 over the term. When you combine the wage increases with the lump sum amounts this adds up to over $14,000.00 in additional earnings for long-term full-time employees!
Members moving through the wage grids will also see changes throughout the term of the Agreement. These changes don’t just include yearly January increases. Your bargaining committee was also successful in changing how the grids will be applied. Every employee in the grids will now see an additional increase on the anniversary of their start date, as well as every January of each year. This means they will receive two increases each year until they reach top rate. This change will ensure that all these employees will receive a minimum increase of $0.50 each calendar year! At a minimum, members working through the scales would see additional earnings of over $10,000 over the term of the Agreement.
These additional changes are on top of the other items you won in the previous offer. You lost nothing by demanding more with your rejection!
To highlight a few of these changes:
- Increase of $0.25 to the shift premium over the term of the Agreement
- Increase to the annual massage therapy expenditure to $1000.00
- A 5% reduction in your contribution to the benefit plan in year 3 (with no loss to your current benefit entitlements)
You can find the rest of the changes in the attached memorandum HERE
If you have any questions about the offer, please contact your Union Labour Relations Officer (ULRO), Aaron Goguen. He can be reached at: 780-452-0362 or: agoguen@ufcw401.ab.ca You can also speak to one of your co-workers on the bargaining committee – Usha Saduera or Kassandra Bulger.
In-person voting:
Date: January 31st
Time: 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (Bring your questions)
Location: Strathcona Community Centre Complex – Meeting Room 2 (401 Festival Place)
**please note there is free parking for two hours at the complex**
Online voting:
Date: February 2nd
Time: Between 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 p.m.
You will receive an email to the email address your union has on file. It’s important that we have your correct contact information. You can update your information at this link by scrolling down the page: https://gounion.ca/contact/. Alternatively, you can let Aaron Goguen know if you need to update your information by sending him your correct/preferred email to: agoguen@ufcw401.ab.ca
This online voting will be conducted by a company called Converso. They ensure a secure and independent voting process. We will provide you with a secure code that is individualized just for you. The online voting platform will use a tracking system to ensure that voting credentials are only used once. Your vote will not be shared with anyone – your vote is 100% confidential. Your union will be cross-referencing in-person and online voting lists to ensure that each member only has the opportunity to vote once so the integrity of the voting process is maintained.
Support services will also be available through Converso to assist members with issues with online voting. Converso will send out comprehensive information about online voting to the email address we have on file for you.
Converso recommends that, where possible, you avoid using a Hotmail email address for this process, as Hotmail sometimes automatically blocks the emails you need to receive.
Please ensure we have your correct email as soon as possible.
The question on the ballot will be:
Yes – I accept the company’s offer
No – I reject the company offer and authorize the union to take the required steps for a potential strike
Please make sure you vote. Don’t let others decide for you!
In solidarity,
Your Union Bargaining Committee
Posted on: January 24,2023