Sunday, January 12, 2020 – The room was in cheers as UFCW 832 members working for Maple Leaf voted yes to ratifying their new contract by 89%.
“Our bargaining committee did an outstanding job during negotiations,” said Jeff Traeger, President of UFCW Local 832. “This new contract will directly address many of the issues that our members were concerned about in the plant, and bring meaningful steps towards fixing the culture of the workplace.”
The new contract brings in many improvements including:
- Wages that are well above the rate of inflation.
- An additional $500,000 to go towards the reclassification of jobs.
- Over $1.4 million in new pension payments that will complete the repayment from the previous pension plan.
- For the first time ever, workers at Maple Leaf will be able to bank their overtime to be used as personal days, and any unused days will be paid out at the end of the year. This is the first of it’s kind at any Maple Leaf plant in Canada.
- A new joint employment project that will where persons with disabilities will be hired and supported. The first of it’s kind in the pork-production industry.
UFCW 832 represents 1900 workers at Maple Leaf who work on the kill and cut operations.