(Montreal) Some 200 workers at the Siemens plant in Drummondville have approved the latest employer’s offer by 83%, which grants them significant salary increases and even a seventh week of vacation.
Posted at 3:03 p.m.
Updated at 4:01 p.m.
The workers, members of a local branch of the Unifor union, affiliated with the FTQ, will receive an increase of $2.10 per hour the first year, then $1.40 per hour the second year and $1 per hour the third year of the collective agreement. These are average increases of 8.7%, 5.1% and 3.8%.
In addition, the Unifor union obtained a fifth week of vacation after 15 years of seniority, a sixth after 25 years and, more rarely, even a seventh week of vacation after 35 years of service.
In an interview Monday, Hugues Perreault, national representative for Unifor, said he believes that the approval rating of 83% “speaks for itself” in terms of member satisfaction.
The union also succeeded in negotiating an increase in bonuses and had the text of the collective agreement amended to improve protection against subcontracting.
Moreover, the workers, who had given themselves a strike mandate in a proportion of 99%, on April 30, did not have to exercise it. “There were several mobilization activities, both inside and outside the plant, but no strikes were called,” specifies Mr. Perreault.
An agreement in principle was first reached this spring, on the recommendation of the conciliator in the file. But the members had rejected it on June 19. This time, it was therefore a final offer from management, and not an agreement in principle. And the members finally accepted it.
Mr. Perreault pointed out that the context of labor scarcity throughout Quebec certainly worked in favor of the workers, as did the regional reality of Drummondville.
“These are significant increases, considering the current economic situation, also considering the regional situation in Drummondville which, in the context of a major labor shortage, has seen the salary conditions of the various neighboring businesses be improved in the same way” , argued Mr. Perreault.
The employees of this Drummondville plant, which belongs to the giant Siemens, manufacture electrical panels for the residential and industrial sectors.