The Ballots Are In!
After almost 20 months of bargaining, the membership at Maple Leaf Pork in Lethbridge held ratification votes on November 21st and 22nd and voted to accept the mediator’s recommended settlement by 74%.
Highlights of the offer are:
- $3/hour increase over the life of the agreement (six years total, with two years back, and four years going forward), and $1.50/hour immediately upon ratification. This equates to a nearly 20% increase over the life of the agreement to the base rate.
- Full retroactive pay
- Improved language for Maintenance Wage Survey and increases to Trades rates of $2.31/hour retroactive pay to January 1, 2023
- Introduction of a new Maple Leaf pension plan, with immediate enrollment for all current members
- Increased vision care
- Increased afternoon shift premiums
- Increased boot allowance
- Increased physiotherapy
- Increased dental and orthodontic coverage
- Improved a number of job levels
- Improved health and safety language
The Union Negotiating Committee was also successful in fighting off the concessions that the company was trying to reach on the weekly hours guarantee and the reduction of vacation entitlements.
These significant increases amount to some of the largest that the members at Maple Leaf Pork have seen in recent history.
“It was the combined strength and continued solidarity of the membership that really helped their union committee push the company to this point and we could not have done this without them,” says Cam Howey, Union Labour Relations Officer for the Lethbridge plant.
“While we were not able to achieve everything we were asking for, I am confident that we achieved the best settlement possible under the circumstances,” says Devin Yeager, the union’s lead spokesperson.
As an ongoing sign of solidarity, the membership in Lethbridge now turns their attention to the ongoing negotiations at their sister plant in Edmonton.
In solidarity,
UFCW Local 401
Posted on: November 29,2023