The 24 employees of the Joliette RCM, which includes about 10 cities in Quebec’s Lanaudière region, have their second collective agreement in their history. The new agreement was signed on Friday December 14th, after workers unanimously ratified the agreement in November.
Their new agreement includes wage increases of 2% annually from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2024. The deal also includes a mandatory group RRSP for all regular employees, with a possible quick move over to the Member Funded Pension Plan (RRFS-FTQ).
“In June 2017, the RCM brought its adapted transit and public transit administrative services back in house, making 14 previously non-unionized employees our members. We had to innovate in several ways to deal with the wage variances among the 24 members, which were relatively significant,” explained Annie Maheu, president of CUPE 5215.
Other gains in this round of negotiations include a 4.5 day full-year week and a pilot project on flexible schedules.
According to Mario Lamontagne, the CUPE representative and spokesperson at the bargaining table, discussions took place in a productive and respectful setting, “Our bargaining committee made up of Annie Maheu and Simon Beausoleil did a thorough job.”