A possible rejection of the final offer presented to the 1,800 Bombardier union members at the Dorval and Saint-Laurent plants would automatically lead to the triggering of an indefinite general strike, warns the union representing these workers.
In a message sent to its members, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), affiliated with the FTQ, explains the main lines of the improved final offer, received from Bombardier management last Friday. This meeting was exceptionally attended by the President and CEO of Bombardier, Éric Martel.
The overall and final offer, relating to an employment contract for a period of five years, was then improved, in particular in terms of salary. Thus, for the first year of the collective agreement, the employer is now offering an average increase of 6.5%, retroactive to December 4, 2021. For the second and third years, it is offering an annual increase of 3%. For the fourth and fifth years, it offers an increase according to the consumer price index plus 0.5%, with a minimum totaling 1.5% and a maximum totaling 3%.
The 1,800 union members will vote on this second final offer on Wednesday at a general meeting.
The first so-called final offer was rejected by the union members on June 11. It is therefore a second global and final offer, which was even submitted in the presence of the big boss of Bombardier, which increases the weight given to it. In its message to its members, the IAMAW specifies that if ever the offer were rejected on Wednesday, this “would automatically lead to the triggering of a general and unlimited strike, since the employer has been clear: it will not improve its offer ” a new time.
The IAMAW also emphasizes that it was the employer who expressly asked it to submit this final offer to its members.
There will therefore be only one vote, since the union members have already given themselves an indefinite strike mandate. They had also walked out for a day, June 13, after rejecting the first final offer on the 11th. Then the union returned to the negotiating table on the 14th.
Note: this is not an agreement in principle between the parties. And the union leaves its members free to choose when it comes to voting on the final offer; it therefore makes no recommendation one way or the other. The IAMAW also indicates to its members that, apart from the salary bonus, “the texts are identical to those presented on June 11th”. Initially, the dispute also concerned the indexation of the retirement pension.