More than one month following a threatened lockout by TVA Rimouski, talks between the parties resumed early in the year. After a few meetings, the company offered a partial catch-up wage increase in an attempt to arrive at a final settlement. This offer resulted in a tentative agreement being reached. The catch-up wage increase was one of the major issues in negotiations.
Last Monday, February 5, employees of TVA Rimouski attended a presentation on the tentative agreement followed by a question period before voting 87 per cent in favour of the proposal by secret ballot.
This agreement calls for a catch-up wage increase of 1.35 per cent over a four-year agreement with annual hikes based on the consumer price index (CPI) (minimum 1 per cent and maximum 3 per cent).
The salary as of January 1, 2018 was increased by 5.56 per cent, and employees will receive retroactive pay for 2016 and 2017 shortly after this new agreement has been signed.
These workers had been without a contract since 2015.