Early this month, Local 401 of the United Food & Commercial Workers published an update on contract negotiations for workers employed with Alberta Distillers.
The current contract for these 70 or so people working at the company’s plant in Calgary expires at the end of this month.
Included in that collective agreement are forklift operators, tankhouse workers, warehouse workers, shippers, maintenance workers, charge hands, and prices operators.
The negotiating committee for the workers met with the employer’s bargaining team earlier this month for their first sessions. Both parties presented initial proposals.
Most notable in the workers’ proposal was a 40% wage increase! They’re asking for “a 10% wage increase for each year of the collective agreement”.
The employer’s proposals says that they want “to maintain the existing wage rate for all current employees”, which sounds like wage freezes. They also seem to be proposing a two-tier wage structure, saying that “new hires will receive the General Help rate”.
In the current agreement, the employer can’t rely on previous discipline older than a year when disciplining a worker. The workers want to reduce this to just 6 months. They also wanted copies of all disciplinary notices, suspensions, and terminations given to the affected worker, the shop steward, and Local 401’s office. Plus, they want the employer to not employ AI decision-making tools when determining discipline for workers.
The workers want to increase the education and training fund contribution of Alberta Distillers from 10¢ per hour worked per workers to 15¢ an hour. The contribution increased in each year of the previous contract, but it looks like they want a single increase this time.
According to the current collective agreement, the employer must provide at least 24 hours notice if they want to alter a worker’s starting or quitting time, if it’s more than 2 hours off. The workers want to increase the notice to 72 hours and reduce the threshold from 2 hours to 1 hour. They also want to increase the premium paid for such hours worked from 1.5 times the regular pay rate to 2 times.
The employer has proposed moving away from specialized roles to a centralized labour pool, where workers could be placed in various positions, rather than remain in the same position. These workers would be called “utility operators” and would be assigned roles daily based on plant requirements. This change would also eliminate the “general help” position.
Alberta Distillers also wants to adjust the work schedule start and end times.
| Old | New | |
|---|---|---|
| 8-hour days | 07:00 to 15:30 | 6:30 to 14:30 |
| 8-hour afternoons | 15:00 to 23:30 | 14:15 to 22:15 |
| 8-hour nights | 23:00 to 07:30 | 22:00 to 6:00 |
| 10-hour days | 06:30 to 17:00 | 06:30 to 17:00 |
| 12-hour days | 06:00 to 18:00 | 06:30 to 18:30 |
| 12-hour nights | 18:00 to 06:00 | 18:30 to 06:30 |
The current collective agreement gives the workers 2 30-minute rest periods and a 30-minute unpaid meal period. The employer wants to change this to a single 30-minute paid rest period. However, they want to increase the break overtime workers get at the end of their first shift from 15 minutes to 30 minutes.
Speaking of meal periods, the workers want to increase the meal allowance for overtime workers from $17.50 to $25.00.
Probationary workers (other than journey-level and power engineers with certificates) get a starting wage of $4 an hour less than what is listed in the wage schedule. The workers want to reduce this to $2 less.
The workers want to introduce a $2 premium for any workers who has to train a new worker.
Alberta Distillers wants to take away general holiday pay from anyone who is absent from work on a general holiday if they’re required or scheduled to work. They also want to deny it for workers who are absent from work the last scheduled day before the general holiday.
The negotiating team for the workers has proposed flexible religious holidays, where workers can transfer Christian holidays, such as Good Friday and Christmas, to another date in the year so they can celebrate their own holy days.
Vacation time maxes out in the current collective agreement at 6 weeks and is available to only workers who have been with the employer for at least 25 years. The workers want to add an extra week for those who’ve been for 30 years or more.
Workers want to increase layoff notice to 1 week from the current 48 hours, and they want a shop steward present when workers receive the notice.
Whenever the Alberta Distillers wants to implement AI into the workplace, the workers would like to consult with them on it.
The employer has offered to increase the boot allowance by $50: from $200 per year to $250 per year generally and from $300 to $350 for those working in the warehouse, as well as barrel fillers/dumpers and maintenance workers. The workers want to increase each by $100: $300 generally and $400 for the rest.
Bereavement leave could double if the workers’ bargaining team gets their way. It’s currently set to 5 days for immediate family members and just 1 day for extended family. They want to increase it to 10 days for immediate and 3 days for extended.
The workers want to increase industrial safety glasses to $350 (from $250). Alberta Distillers, however, wants to remove this benefit entirely, claiming that it’s “redundant since prescription safety glasses are reimbursed by voucher issued from H&S department”.
Severance pay is currently 1 week’s pay per year worked. The workers want to increase that to 2 weeks pay per year worked, and thy want to remove the 20 week cap.
The bargaining team for the workers wants to ban the use of safety cameras to monitor workers.
The workers are hoping the collective agreement can introduce paid sick leave this year. It would be maxed out at 10 sick days. They also want to prohibit the need for doctor’s notes, and they want to increase personal/family responsibility leave to 5 days, up from 4 days.
Workers hope that the health benefits could include gender-affirming care—including hormone therapy, surgery, and mental health support— and they want the employer to pay 100% of the coverage. They also want the employer to make the workspace safer for trans workers.
The two parties will meet next month for the next bargaining sessions.
