Deal affects about 1,000 workers at six locations
Following ratification meetings held over the previous two weeks, Unifor members supported a tentative agreement reached with the eastern pattern-bargaining target company Resolute Forest Products on July, with 70 per cent supporting the new deal.
“The negotiations focused on one of the major issues facing the sawmill sector, namely, labour renewal,” said Renau Gagné, Unifor Quebec director. “The new agreement will help to attract and retain workers in our facilities.”
This new contract will serve as a model contract for the sawmill industry in Quebec, said the union.
Highlights of the four-year contract include wage increases of two per cent in the first two years and 2.5 per cent in the last two years, a wage adjustment of $0.40 per hour for production employees, a wage adjustment of $0.75 per hour and $0.50 per hour in 2021 for trade employees and an improved group insurance plan, according to Unifor.
As well, the new deal includes a contribution of $0.02 per hour to the Canadian Community Fund and an improved bereavement fund, said the union.
Overall, this collective agreement will affect about 1,000 unionized workers in the six Quebec-based RFP sawmills that participated in the negotiations: Girardville (Local 497), La Doré (Local 498), Mistassini (Local 1495), Saint-Thomas (Local 1496), Maniwaki (Local 182) and Comtois (Local 3057), according to Unifor.
