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'A major step forward to protect and improve jobs at the LCBO ... your team is unanimously recommending that you vote in favour." - OPSEU.
Toronto (29 June 2009) - The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) has posted full details of the tentative new four-year agreement negotiated on behalf of Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) employees. Plans are being made for a province-wide ratification vote in July.
These are some of the highlights of the agreement (check the OPSEU website for full details on these improvements and many more):
- Pay raises of 1.75% retroactive to April 1, 2009, and increases of 2% on the same date in 2010, 2011 and 2012 (identical to raises negotiated for the Ontario Public Service).
- Signing bonus of $500 for full-time workers.
- Signing bonus for permanent part-time, seasonal and casual employees of 25 cents for each regular hour worked in the 2008 calendar year.
- Casuals hired after Sept. 1, 2002, will be able to advance to the top of the pay grid. They were unable to do so in the previous contract.
- Casuals hired between Sept. 1, 2002, and July 31, 2006, will move from $16.62 an hour to $17.72 an hour and a year later to the top rate of $18.77 an hour - 13% in total.
- Rates in the new contract will be higher than these figures because of the new annual wage increases negotiated.
- Newer casuals will get "pay in lieu" to make up for the fact that they do not receive benefits.
- Casuals and seasonals will now get benefits.
- No short-term layoffs for permanent staff.
- More full-time jobs - 25 new permanent full-time jobs will be posted in each year of the new contract - customer service representative jobs in retail stores.
- Job security protection remains in effect. The employer has dropped demands in this regard related to privatization and technical change.
- Fixed-term employees get their first pay increase since 2000, rising from $10 an hour to $11.50 as of Nov. 1, 2009, and increasing by 2% annually after that for the remainder of the contract.
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Bargaining team members for OPSEU's Liquor Board Employees Division (LBED): (from left) Senior Negotiator Rob Field; Dora Robinson, OPSEU Local 376; Senior Researcher Joyce Hansen; OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas; Laurie Miller, Local 682; Colleen MacLeod, Local 5107; Team Chair Vanda Klumper, Local 165; Tracy Vyfschaft, Local 377; Lori Miller, Local 499; and Team Vice-Chair Denise Davis, Local 378. |
'Goals achieved'
"We set a goal early on that we would not settle for any deal unless it protected the livelihoods of our permanent staff. We said we would not settle for any deal unless it made measurable gains for our casual members," the bargaining team notes.
"We achieved both those goals – and more. That’s why your team is unanimously recommending that you vote in favour of this new contract when we hold our ratification vote in July," the union says.
"This contract does not provide everything we were hoping for. That’s not the way negotiations work. But it is a major step forward to protect and improve jobs at the LCBO. The damage that was done to our collective agreement in the past was done over a period of 30 years. It will not be repaired overnight. We intend to keep working on our contract in the years ahead – not just for current workers, but future ones, too."
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
More information:
Better Jobs - this new tentative agreement is a winner for all of us - pdf