(Granby) The employees of the Agropur plant in Granby accepted on Wednesday the agreement in principle which was concluded on Sunday between their employer and their union. Activities should gradually resume next week and cheese production around mid-August.
Posted at 3:25 p.m.
Updated at 5:11 p.m.
The 250 or so members of the union of cheese dairy workers (CSD) went on strike on June 29. This labor dispute had serious consequences as hundreds of thousands of liters of milk had to be thrown away because they could not use it in time or find other outlets. This situation was later rectified.
The members accepted the agreement in principle at 73%. The parties had agreed to renew almost all of the collective agreement.
The main issue in the conflict was the employer’s desire to modify working hours, according to the CSD. Agropur would have liked to reduce shifts from eight to 12 hours and start work days at different times depending on the day of the week.
“For us, it was essential to protect our achievements and the integrity of the collective agreement which is 45 years old, especially with regard to work schedules. Work-family balance is a right that we had to protect, ”sums up Bernard Cournoyer, union adviser at the Central of Democratic Unions (CSD), in a press release.
Some amendments to the collective agreement have nevertheless been made, according to the CSD. These include annual salary increases of between 2.5% and 3.5% and salary adjustments for maintenance employees. The addition of a sabbatical leave, the modification of the summer vacation choice period, the increase of certain bonuses and allowances and salary advances in the event of absence of disability are also part of the additions.
“If we have reached an agreement that suits our members, it is because they have remained united throughout the conflict. A strike is not easy for anyone and we can finally move on,” says Mr. Cournoyer.
Return to work protocol
Employees will return to work from next Monday gradually, according to the return to work protocol which they have also accepted, explains management.
“The plant was closed for almost five weeks, so there is a major cleaning operation to ensure that we respect the high standards of quality and safety to which our customers are accustomed”, specifies the director, relations public and strategic communications, of Agropur Cooperative, Guillaume Bérubé.
The Granby plant should start receiving milk the week of August 15, he adds.
The new collective agreement will expire on July 23, 2026.
“It’s a long-term agreement and it ensures stability for the next few years. We are very happy to have reached an agreement,” specifies Mr. Bérubé.
This return to work will make it possible to continue to supply customers with cheese, to avoid the waste of milk and to release the pressure on milk producers, he adds.
” Good news ! A negotiated agreement was accepted. With the return to work, we can hope for a quick return to normal for our dairy producers, ”said the Quebec Minister of Agriculture, André Lamontagne, on Twitter.
The president of the Producteurs de lait du Québec, Daniel Gobeil, said he was “very relieved” on Wednesday afternoon of the gradual reopening of the Granby plant, which processes about 10% of the milk produced in Quebec.
“It’s clear that the plant will not be 100%, but still, having an additional plant will already help put everything back,” said Mr. Gobeil.
In a letter to Agropur’s union and management parties on July 22, Mr. Gobeil affirmed “the need to have a minimum processing capacity at the plant to limit the risk of food waste”, highlighting the “economic losses that producers are currently suffering due to the conflict”.
In an interview with The Canadian Press on Wednesday, he added that the government should “recognize the processing of a perishable product like ours as an essential service”. He says he is aware that we have to negotiate collective agreements, but “closing the factories is very difficult for a sector like ours”.