Contract for Toronto staff includes cost of living wage raise, better severance, improvements for part-timers
About 130 staff at Ming Pao Daily, a Chinese newspaper in Toronto, have signed a new collective agreement.
On May 25, editorial, advertising, production and administrative staff represented by Unifor Local 87-M signed a two-year contract.
As part of the agreement, employees will be getting cost of living wage raises, better severance pay, improvements for part-time employees and no concessions.
This, the second agreement at Ming Pao, was reached at the initial stages of negotiations at the bargaining table — a victory for both parties, as the first collective agreement was reached last year only after an eight-week strike and the intervention of the Ontario Labour Relations Board, which imposed a contract on the union.
“We are very happy to re-negotiate a good union contract with this company without the need for a strike, litigation or even mediation,” said Wesley Chua, copy editor at the paper and union spokesperson. “The company brought a very professional attitude to the bargaining table, and we reached an agreement that is fair to both the staff and the company.”
