The 188 blue-collar workers with the City of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu signed their collective agreement last Friday.

The seven-year contract, which runs from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2024, calls for wage hikes of 2% per year for the first four years, 2.5% for 2022 and 2.75% for 2023 and 2024.

“Negotiations went quite well. We worked on a lot of problems that surfaced in recent years such as the movement of staff that was very difficult for the employer to manage. We came up with solutions that provided some framework,” declared CUPE representative Marie-Claude Lessard,

Several other gains were made. For example, the parties negotiated two days of paid family leave and a clause that would help limit contracting out, which will enable the blue-collar workers to study the contracts in committee to bring the work back in-house, while being competitive and providing quality work.

A clause calling for training for certain positions requiring greater precision or knowledge was also obtained for the members.