Tentative agreement ratified by Unifor at Resolute sawmills

(Montreal) Unifor union members have just approved 67% of their new four-year contract for the eight Resolute Forest Products sawmills.

The contract provides for significant increases in compensation, namely “adjustments” of $2.50 per hour upon ratification of the contract and $1 per hour as of the 1^er May 2024 for trades workers.

Production employees, for their part, will receive “adjustments” of $1.25 per hour upon ratification of the contract and $1.25 per hour as of the 1^er May 2024.

To these amounts must be added wage increases of 3% the first year, $1.30 per hour the second year, 3% the third year and $1.30 the fourth year.

This contract, which later served as a model for Unifor to negotiate in other companies in the sawmill industry, involved 1,000 workers in eight Resolute sawmills in Comtois, Girardville, La Doré, Maniwaki, Mistassini, Normandin, Saint-Thomas and des Outardes, in Baie-Comeau.

The agreement also provides for an improvement in group insurance and a third week of vacation after two years of service.

It also includes an increase in evening and night shift premiums, as well as a double rate for overtime hours worked on Sundays.

The former Quebec director of Unifor, Renaud Gagné, who acted as negotiator in this file, explains the result of the vote by the “enormous expectations” of the workers “due to the great profitability of the sawmill sector at present”.