Unifor Local 195 members at both Morrice Transportation and AG Simpson have overwhelmingly approved new three-year collective agreements.
Local 195 President Emile Nabbout says on Saturday approximately 26 members workers at Morrice Transportation ratified their deal with 94.5 per cent support, while around 65 workers at AG Simpson approved theirs with 81 per cent support.
He says wages were the key issue during bargaining.
“With this challenging economic time, with inflation hitting every household, our members main focus was to improve the wage structure that way they could support their family,” Nabbout said.
He says both contracts include wage increases above the rate of inflation, signing bonuses, and other monetary improvements.
“Both collective agreements have a wage increase beyond the market value, and our members was looking forward to see those gains,” he said.
“We have signing bonus on each of this collective agreement.”
At AG Simpson, Nabbout says the union also negotiated a reduction in the progressive wage grid to a maximum of three years and an additional annual payment.
“In lieu of a cost of living, we have been able to negotiate $800 in each year of the agreement,” he said.
Nabbout says members at both workplaces are pleased with the agreements, describing the overall response as strongly positive.
The Morrice Transportation agreement is retroactive to the expiry of the previous contract over a month ago, while the AG Simpson deal is retroactive to July 1.