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RELEASE - USW members win significant gains in wages, pensions, benefits and contracting out language with “best contract since 1990.”
About 235 United Steelworkers members working at Wabush Mines have ratified a collective agreement providing wage increases of 18 % over five years. The increases amount to more than $5 per hour over the term of the agreement, based on the combination of regular, annual wage hikes and cost-of-living increases.
“We’re very happy. This is the best contract we’ve negotiated with this company since 1990,” said Roland Labonté, United Steelworkers area coordinator.
“These workers deserved to be treated like their counterparts at other mining companies on the North Shore and to achieve similar wage rates,” Labonté said.
The agreement also includes important gains in pension and benefit plans.
“We also were able to address the use of contractors, which was a major issue, said USW Staff Representative Alain Croteau, noting the new agreement sets a minimum employment level of 240 unionized workers.
The agreement, ratified today by a 71% majority of union members, is retroactive to March 2009 and runs to March 2013.
“We decided to defer negotiations, which were supposed to begin last year, due to the difficult economic climate and the significant number of layoffs at the time. It was worth it, our strategy was successful,” said Robert Roy, President of USW Local 6254.
The United Steelworkers (Le Syndicat des Métallos), affiliated with the Quebec Federation of Labour (FTQ), is the largest private-sector union in Québec, with more than 60,000 workers in all sectors of the economy.
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Contacts: Clairandrée Cauchy, USW Communications, 514-774-4001; Alain Croteau, USW Staff Representative, 418-962-7127
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NEWS RELEASES
