The union representing more than 600 employees at GreenShield Canada in Toronto and Windsor, Ont. has ratified a three-year collective agreement that includes pension and benefits gains, ending a strike that began on March 1.
The agreement includes a $1.50 increase to the defined benefit pension plan for each year, bringing employees from a $71 pension credit to $75.50 by the end of the agreement, and a one-time lump sum $1,000 payment for retirees. In addition, employees who had their pension credits frozen in 2014 to $53 per service unit will receive $1,000 per year they worked prior to 2014 in a retirement incentive, so long as the member retires prior to the end of this agreement.
Mental-health coverage for registered clinical psychologists, social workers or marriage counsellors will increase from a $2,000 maximum per calendar year to $3,000 in year one, $3,500 in year two and $4,000 in year three.
Read: Zayo, Unifor agreement includes pension, benefits gains
The agreement will also see the employer incorporate $3.34 of the cost-of-living adjustment into base rate salaries and, in years two and three, workers will receive an additional 50 cents per hour for each year.
Unifor also ratified a four-year collective agreement that includes pension and benefits gains for more than 180 employees at Griffin Wheel in Winnipeg, ending a 19-day lockout.
The agreement includes a one dollar per year increase to the DB pension plan — from $57 per month per year of service for production workers and $60 for trades — and sunset clause language was removed from the pension plan.
A new health-care spending account was added at $250 per year for single employees and $500 per year for workers with dependants. In addition, workers will see an added four per cent in wages in years one and two and an additional three per cent in years three and four.
Read: Robinson Solutions, Unifor agreement includes pension, benefits gains
The union also ratified a five-year collective agreement that includes benefits gains for roughly 1,600 employees at 11 Dominion grocery stores owned by Loblaw Co. Ltd. across Newfoundland.
The agreement includes a reduction in the number of hours needed for part-time workers to maintain eligibility for health benefits, as well as a raise of $4.50 per hour for full-time workers and $3.20 per hour for part-time workers by the end of the agreement.
The deal follows a pattern that the union set last summer when it secured an agreement for workers at Metro Inc. supermarkets in Ontario, followed by another agreement for workers at 17 No Frills supermarkets also in Ontario.
Read: Metro, Unifor agreement includes pension, benefits gains