An exciting new deal has just been ratified by the members at Life’s Journey for the office staff and for the frontline staff. These are two separate contracts, but both were bargained and ratified at the same time.
The employer came to the table prepared to bargain a fair deal working within the financial realities of the support sector. While wage increases are understandably a large part of many negotiations, they are not the only form of compensation that can make a big difference in members’ lives. In this deal, a variety of other monetary benefits have been agreed to for UFCW members when there was no money available for wage increases.
Highlights from this deal include:
- Allowing unused sick time to be used as personal days
- Increasing the employer’s RRSP match
- Introducing a compressed work week in the summer (giving members Mondays off)
- Converting a 40-hour work week to a 37.5-hour work week, while maintaining the original salary
- Allowing staff to eat in-house with clients (costs covered by the employer)
- Part-time employees now have the same vacation entitlement as full-time employees
- Gym membership for all full-time employees
- Increasing vision coverage
- Increasing the long service premiums
Union negotiator Phil Kraychuk said, “This is a great deal for our members, who are extremely happy with the new collective agreement. Congratulations to all Life’s Journey members, but especially to the negotiating committee, who worked so hard to make this deal come true.”
FASD Life’s Journey Inc. is an agency providing disability services in multiple rural and urban locations within the province of Manitoba. They offer residential, outreach, and fostering programs with adjunct services, including cultural supports, clinical resources, addictions and wellness programming opportunities. UFCW Local 832 represents the office workers, the front-line staff and the outreach workers who work in group homes with clients with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).