Last week, I was browsing through the collective bargaining agreement database maintained by the Mediation Services department of the provincial government.
I noticed a new collective agreement for the roughly 10 concrete workers employed by Heidelberg Materials Canada.
These workers include operators of mixer trucks with 4 or more axles and tandem trailer drivers.
They are represented by Local 362 of the General Teamsters.
The last collective agreement for these workers expired back in June.
Workers ratified the new agreement on 11 August 2025, about 2 months later. It is effective as of July 2025 and expires in April 2029. Their previous agreement was for 3 years, and the new one is for nearly 4.
The workers are set to receive wage increases in the last two years of this new collective agreement.
| 1 July 2025 | 2.50% |
| 1 July 2026 | 2.50% |
| 1 July 2027 | 2.50% |
| 1 July 2028 | 2.50% |
Their last contract gave them a 50¢ per hour increase in the first year, followed by a $1 increase in each of the next 2 years, working out to about 9%, for an annual average increase of 3%.
The 10% combined increase in their new increase is an annual average increase of, well, 2.5%.
Here are some other highlights of changes in the new collective agreement.
Pension contributions from Heidelberg will increase every year, starting with 10¢ each this year and next year, per hour worked, followed by 15¢ in each of the final two years of the contract.
On a related. note, the following was added to the collective agreement:
As required by law, where the employer can no longer make pension contributions on behalf of an employee after the calendar year in which they turn 71, contributions from the employer will cease.
In the list of recognized holidays, Armistice Day has been changed to Remembrance Day, which is kind of odd, since it was officially changed by the Canadian parliament nearly 100 years ago.
Workers will now get a safety footwear allowance of up to $200 per calendar year, something that was missing in the previous collective agreement. It is a reimbursable allowance, so workers must purchase the footwear first, then submit a receipt.
Under the previous agreement, Heidelberg had promised to pay $390 per month per worker into the Prairie Teamsters Health and Welfare Plan. This has increased to $420 per month this year, and it will increase by $10 every year for the last 3 years of the agreement.
Reduced amounts have been implemented in the new agreement for workers older than 64 or who have been laid off.
| Regular | > 64 | Layoff | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ratification | $420.00 | $391.10 | $230.00 |
| 1 January 2026 | $430.00 | $401.10 | $240.00 |
| 1 January 2027 | $440.00 | $411.10 | $250.00 |
| 1 January 2028 | $450.00 | $421.10 | $260.00 |
