The 190 members of CUPE 4835, the Syndicat général du cinéma et de la television, SGCT, who work at the National Film Board of Canada, have a new collective agreement. The new deal was signed electronically on June 20 and initialled on July 4.
“Negotiations went well. We had to merge two collective agreements into one, and we wanted to take the time to get it right. We’re pleased with the gains we’ve made, but we’re still very concerned given the successive waves of layoffs we’ve experienced over the past few months,” says Olivier Lamothe, president of SGCT – CUPE 4835.
The contract includes salary increases and adjustments totalling 4.75% for 2022, 3.5% for 2023, 2.25% for 2024 and 2% for 2025.
Added to these gains is a framework for the use of new technologies, providing justification for changes and requiring the employer to inform the union 60 days prior to implementation, to minimize the impact on workers and to provide the necessary upgrade training during working hours.
The employer will also have to give those affected by the abolition of their positions more advance notice than was previously the case and pay them an education allowance up to $6000. The workforce adjustment clause has also been improved.