In the June 2023 Bargaining Update released earlier this month, Alberta’s jobs, economy, and northern development ministry indicated that a new collective agreement for Lafarge Canada had been reached.
Settled on 26 May 2023, the new agreement is between Lafarge Canada Inc. and Local 362 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, also known as the Teamsters Union, which represents about two dozen workers out of the company’s Grande Prairie “ready mix” operation.
The previous contract for these workers—which include drivers of mixer trucks and trailer trucks—had expired at the end of May. The new contract was settled just two days before the previous one expired.
According to the June 2023 Bargaining Update, these workers will receive a total increase of 3.1% over the 2-year term of their contract. Here’s how it breaks down per year.
| Mixer driver | Trailer driver | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 June 2024 | 1.66% | 1.61% |
| 1 June 2025 | 1.39% | 1.35% |
| Total | 3.05% | 2.96% |
This is below the inflation rate seen in every recent June. Last month, for example, inflation in Alberta increased 3.1% over June 2023, which itself had increased by 1.9%. As well, inflation hit 8.4% in June 2022 and 2.7% in June 2021. It seems unlikely that these raises will be sufficient to cover inflation this year and next year, unless something significant happens to the economy.
Even so, this is more than the raises they got in the previous contract, which were 1.01% and 0.99% for mixer drivers and 0.98% and 0.97% for trailer drivers. Clearly, however, those were far below inflation, so the workers were already dealing with a cut to real wages heading into bargaining. They also wage freezes in 2018 and 2021.
Mediation Services has provided the complete new contract, so I took the liberty of comparing it to the previous contract. Below are some of the more prominent changes.
In both contracts, workers were to be paid time and a half for all hours worked on Saturdays. However, in the previous contract, there was a clause stating that starting on 1 December and ending the following April workers were paid straight time on Saturdays until they had reached 40 hours for the week. That clause was removed for the new contract.
In the previous contract, workers were eligible to 4 weeks of vacation pay once they had reached their 10th year of employment with Lafarge. That has been changed to 11th year of employment.
The annual boot allowance will increase from $180 to $225 per year.
Under the previous contract, Lafarge was to pay 75% of the total premium cost per month towards the Prairie Teamsters Health and Welfare Plan and the workers covered the rest through a paycheque deduction. Lafarge will now pay the difference, according to the new contract, between the total premium cost per moth and the worker’s deduction.
Lafarge also agreed to increase the pension premiums it pays from $3.40 per hour worked to $3.94 per hour this year and $4.40 per hour in 2025. As well, starting with the new contract, Lafarge will no longer pay pension deductions for workers after 31 December in the year they turn 71.
