In the May 2023 Bargaining Update released last month, Alberta’s jobs, economy, and northern development ministry indicated that a new collective agreement for Sysco had been reached.
Settled on 6 May 2023, the new agreement is between Sysco and Local 987 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, also known as the Teamsters Union, which represents about 50 workers out of the company’s Calgary location.
These workers—which include receivers, warehouse persons, repickers, janitors, truck drivers, forklift operators, loaders, and workers in quality assurance and out in the yard—had been working on an old contract that had expired in March 2023.
According to the May 2023 Bargaining Update, these workers will receive a total increase of 15.5% over the 4-year term of their contract. Here’s how it breaks down per year.
| 3 March 2023 | 5.0% |
| 3 March 2024 | 3.0% |
| 3 March 2025 | 3.0% |
| 3 March 2026 | 4.5% |
That works out to an average annual increase of 3.88%.
Under the new contract, workers who work more than two hours of overtime will qualify for a meal allowance of $12 for that shift, up from $10 in the previous contract.
The new contract also added the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation to the list of paid holidays.
Full-time workers will be entitled to 40 hours of paid bereavement leave in the event that a close family member dies. Under the previous contract, workers were eligible for 24 hours of leave, plus 16 hours for travelling to an out-of-province funeral. The two blocks of time were combined into the new contract and available to all full-time workers, not just those travelling out of province for a funeral.
In the previous contract, workers had a $130 boot allowance that they could use to purchase safety boots. That was increased to $150 in the new contract, unless the worker must buy special freezer boots; in that case, the allowance will be $180.
Finally, by the end of the new contract, pension contributions for each worker will increase from $2.70 last year to $3.10 by Mach 2026.
