Cascade Aerospace and Unifor ratify new settlement

Agreement ends 11-week strike over wages, job security

Cascade Aerospace employees in Abbotsford, B.C., have ratified a settlement after 11 weeks off the job.

Workers represented by Unifor agreed to the offer – which included increased job security and protection for young workers’ benefits – by a margin of 96 per cent.

“This strike was always about keeping good, stable jobs in Abbotsford, and our members achieved that,” said Unifor’s national president Jerry Dias. “I’m very proud of our members’ commitment to defending good jobs now, and for the future.”

Unifor represents 440 aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs), interior technicians, painters, stores, maintenance, planning clerks, sheet metal mechanics and other workers at the facility.

The new settlement – reached with the help of two independent mediators – also included significant wage increases, higher premiums for confined spaces work and a written commitment from the company to maintain Abbotsford as the primary heavy maintenance facility for its RCAF C-130 aircraft.

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