Last month, the Mediation Services department of Alberta Jobs, Economy, and Trade published the November 2024 Bargaining Update.
This monthly report provides information about the unionized workforce, primarily in Alberta. In November, Mediation Services received settlement information regarding 20 private sector and 11 public sector bargaining settlements, covering 2,841 and 4,096 workers respectively.
Among those settlements was a contract for about 75 workers employed by VPC Group. Technically, it is actually two contracts: one for 13 workers at the company’s “Bed In Box” facility and one for 61 workers at the main Calgary facility.
Both groups of workers are represented by Local 7226 of The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, also known as the United Steelworkers.
Based out of Toronto, VPC is a foam and fibre manufacturer, with locations throughout Canada and the United States, including two facilities in Calgary.
The workers at the Bed In Box facility, which just opened in 2021, include machine operators, balers, shippers, forklift operators, and general labours.
The larger group of workers at the main facility are employed in the company’s fabrication and rebond departments and include various equipment operators, fibre cutters, gluers, balers, shippers, forklift operators, and general labourers. The number of workers at this facility included in the new contract has dropped by over 20 since the previous contract was settled back in March 2021.
The previous contracts for the workers expired in September 2023 (here and here). The new contracts (here and here) were settled 7 months later, in April 2024; although Mediation Services only recently received copies.
According to the bargaining update, these workers are set to get wage increases in each year of the new 3-year contract, which expires in April 2027.
| Bed In Box | Vitafoam | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2023 | 5–7% | 5% |
| 30 September 2024 | 35¢ | 35¢ |
| 30 September 2025 | 20¢ | 20¢ |
Over the course of the new contract, the Bed In Box workers will receive a combined wage increase ranging from 7.56% to 10.09%, depending on their position.
At the main Calgary facility, workers can expect a combined wage increase ranging from 5.98% to 9.58% over the course of their new 3-year contract.
Except wind up operators. They were supposed to get a 21¢ raise in their 2023 increase, which would’ve been only a 1.09% increase. The subsequent 35¢ and 20¢ increases bring their combined increase to just 3.94% over 3 years.
In case anyone is curious, inflation in Alberta increased 3.69% between September 2022 and September 2023.
That means that the wind up operators are getting a combined increase that will barely cover the inflation from their previous raise. It certainly won’t be enough to cover inflation during the term of this new collective agreement.
Here are some changes between the previous contract and the new contract.
The first article in the previous contract for the Bed In Box workers stated that the collective agreement was for all workers at that plant “except office staff, sales staff, foremen, mechanics (skilled trades) and those with the authority to hire and/or fire”. Now, the first article just says that it applies to workers defined in certificate C-50-2006, which was issued by the Alberta Labour Relations Board in 2006 for workers at the main plant. It seems as though Local 7226 is trying to amalgamate the two collective agreements.
Under the previous collective agreement, workers were entitled to 4 days of paid bereavement leave for the death of their parents, spouse, and children. This has been expanded to include stepparents and stepchildren.
Domestic violence leave has been added to the collective agreement, which is up to 1 month per calendar year. The employer has also agreed to arrange for counselling services for those who are victims of domestic violence.
The boot allowance has increased from $100 per year to $125 per year.
Under the previous contract, workers had to be employed for 30 days to qualify for stat holiday pay. That has been changed to 240 hours.
Workers used to have to wait until they had been employed with the company for 11 years before their paid vacation time would increase to 4 weeks. That has been reduced to 10 years in the new collective agreement.
The previous contract had the employer agreeing to pay the workers any owed back pay within 3 business days if exceeded $75. The limit has been reduced to $50 in the new collective agreement.
