Achieve higher wages after current deal renegotiated: UFCW
United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) Canada, Local 401 members working at Agropur Cooperative Ice Cream in Edmonton ratified a new union contract on May 28.
The company proposed to the union negotiating committee a commitment to invest $20 million into the Edmonton facility to secure customer contracts, expand storage and upgrade equipment. The commitment required that the union contract be extended to guarantee labour peace and provide security, said the union.
Two years were remaining on the current contract, so the new agreement includes the increases due in those two years as well as an 11 per cent increase over the newly agreed upon five-year period, said UFCW.
The new deal also has a guarantee on full-time jobs through the life of the agreement, said the union.
UFCW Canada Local 401 is Alberta’s largest private sector union, representing more than 32,000 union members working in diverse sectors of the Alberta economy, including food and beverage production, retail, warehousing, transportation and agriculture.
