On Tuesday, January 30, the members of Valley View Co-op ratified a new five-year collective bargaining agreement (cba) after a challenging negotiation process.
“This was a challenging round of bargaining, having the first tentative agreement turned down by our members,” said Joe Carreiro, Union Negotiator. “I’m proud of the work our bargaining committee did to stand up for their fellow coworkers and get a good deal.”
Highlights from the new CBA include:
- General language cleanup to provide more clarity and understanding
- Workers now have the flexibility to take bereavement leave non-consecutively, offering flexibility during challenging times.
- Addition of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to the list of general holidays
- General Holiday Scheduling has been updated. The Employer will now first ask for volunteers to work on general holidays, then if the shifts aren’t filled, the employer will schedule from the bottom of seniority, moving up.
- Sunday Premium raised to $1 an hour along with other premium improvements
- Shoe reimbursement has increased from 75% to 100% of the value of the shoe (up to a maximum of $150 value)
- New Short-Term Disability Plan.
- The new deal comes with a 9.75% over 5 years with a variety of increases to job classifications ranging from 4% to 20% that take place on the date of ratification.
- Finally, each member will receive a lump sum signing bonus of either $1200.00 for those working an average of 24 hours/week or more, and $750.00 for those averaging less than 24 hours/week.
Valley View Co-op is in the Virden area and employs over 135 UFCW 832 members. Our members operate the Agro centre, which offers day-to-day tasks to major farm jobs and provides a variety of services and products to the community, the grocery store in Virden, Oak Lake, along with C stores, which are gas bars that offer snacks and a few grocery items, with locations in Virden and Melita.