A new contract reached for local workers without the use of job action.
Unifor members who work at industrial equipment supplier Colonial Tool Group Inc. in Windsor voted unanimously in favour of a new three-year contract with the company on April 26.
Their previous contract had expired at the end of March and both sides have been chipping away at this since.
There are 35 members of Local 195 who work as Class A tool machinists, Class B tool machinists, in machine assembly, inspection, plant services, as janitors and production operators.
The biggest win for workers in the new deal is all members were moved into the CAAT pension plan from the current Defined Contribution plan.
Local 195 President Emile Nabbout says this is a massive improvement for their members that they've long-fought for, which will help them feel more secure in their future, and in retirement.
He says members have been working for for the company for a long period of time, and this new deal has many new improvements and cost of living language assurances.
"And we bargained wage increases in each year of the collective agreement. Pensions was another stumbling block for a long time, and we were able to negotiate a massive CAAT pension plan for all members. That's why we got 100% ratification," he stated.
Nabbout says the process was really slow, but workers are happy about what they managed to achieve.
"Everybody knows when you have cost of living language under the collective agreement, the index we use created a $2.74 increase now folded into the wage to tackle all of the inflation. We did have an additional wage increase in each year of the collective agreement of $1.80 over three years."
He says negotiations weren't too difficult as the employer was willing to meet the asks of the membership.
"Most parties agreed to continue having a dialogue as long as there is movement. The relationship with the employer is good, and that's why no strike action took place. Because the process was moving, moving slow, but we are pleased that we were able to reach this agreement that's satisfactory to our members," he said.
Nabbout says they're looking forward to continue moving the same pattern with other employers within their local.
The contract with Colonial Tool Group expires on March 31, 2027.