Workers at Aramark in Mississauga, Ont., ratify new contract

Wages increase above government mandated $15-per-hour increase: UFCW

United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW), Local 175 members, working for Aramark Canada at the Peel District School Board in Mississauga, Ont., signed a new three-year contract on Feb. 10.

In each year of the contract, wages will increase across the board. The first increase is retroactive for hours worked since the expiry of the previous contract. Employees will see wages increase three per cent in the first year of the contract, 1.5 per cent in the second year and 1.5 per cent in year three of the agreement, said the union.

In addition, general-help rates will increase substantially with new minimum-wage-plus language. The contract provides for a $0.45 per hour increase — over and above the provincial government’s announced increase to $15 per hour — beginning in January 2019, according to UFCW.

Full-time employees will receive four personal/sick days per year, inclusive of the two mandated under the Employment Standards Act (ESA). Part-time employees can use their two emergency leave days, with no doctor’s notes required, for school closures affecting their children. The contract also recognizes Easter Monday as a paid holiday now, said the union.

As well, there will be a deletion of mandatory inoculation language. The employer will now pay 50 per cent of the cost of the negotiating committee’s lost wages, as well as the cost of printing contract books. And each employee will receive three uniforms from the company. In addition, the employer will contribute $300 per year — up from $250 — toward the Local 175 Training & Education Fund, said the UFCW.

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