In an update posted to their website last week, Local 401 of the Untied Food and Commercial Workers union announced that food processing workers in Calgary had a new contract.
The union represents about 60 workers employed by the Dutch company Refresco at their beverage processing plant in Southeast Calgary.
Prior to 2020, the location—where the workers process soft drinks and water—was operated by Cott Beverages, which was purchased by Refresco.
The previous contract for these workers had expired back in February, so the workers will be happy to have a contract in place again. In fact. of those who participated in the ratification process, 86% voted to accept the new contract.
The new 4-year contract brings a 17.5% wage increases over the course of the contract. This is significantly more than they saw in the previous contract, which gave them only 6% over 4 years, putting them behind inflation.
That’ll work out to nearly $6 an hour more for most workers by the time this new contract expires.
The first raise is retroactive to the start of the contract, so workers can expect significant amount of backpay on an upcoming paycheque. And that’s not including the $500 sign-on bonus these workers are set to receive just for ratifying the contract.
The bargaining team for the workers managed to negotiate several improvements to health benefits.
| Old coverage | New coverage | |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | $325 | $375 |
| Massage therpay | $500 | $600 |
| Physiotherpay | $500 | $600 |
| Chiropractic | $500 | $600 |
| Mental health | $500 | $1000 |
As well, workers will now be entitled to a maximum of 60 hours of sick pay per year, up from 56 hours in the previous contract.
The safety footwear allowance will increase by $10 a year, from $240 to $250.
Finally, workers get a new statutory holiday under the new contract: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which falls on 30 September 30 every year.
