The union representing 89 employees at the University of Toronto has ratified a two-year agreement that includes retirement and benefits gains, including gender affirmation coverage. The agreement includes six retiring allowance packages equivalent to two months of base wages for employees who qualify for an unreduced pension in accordance with the University Pension Plan’s provisions. […]
The union representing more than 700 employees at Grand River Transit in Waterloo, Ont. has ratified a three-year collective agreement that includes benefits gains. The agreement between Unifor and the transit company includes enhanced paramedical coverage, from $1,000 to $2,000 per employee per year, which covers chiropractors, naturopaths and acupuncturists. It also includes coverage for […]
A pair of surveys on the state of Canadian workers’ mental health were among the most-read stories on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. Survey finds 40% of Canadian gen Z employees at a mental-health ‘breaking point’ 2. Survey finds 40% of workers taking time off due […]
The union representing 350 WestJet employees at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport has ratified a 2.5-year collective agreement that includes pension and benefits gains. The agreement enshrines the airline’s savings plan specifically for this group of workers. The plan permits contributions to either a cash savings plan, a group registered retirement savings plan or a group […]
The Union of Taxation Employees and the Canada Revenue Agency have reached a tentative agreement that includes new protections around remote work and improved vacation. The tentative agreement, which ends a strike lasting more than two weeks involving 35,000 workers, has some of the same updates that were reached by the Public Service Alliance of Canada […]
An article on Bill C-228 receiving royal assent was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. Controversial super-priority pension bill receives royal assent 2. PSAC, government tentative agreement includes new protections around remote work, wage increases 3. FHSA may work best in conjunction with group […]
The agreement on remote and flexible work between public sector workers and the federal government could set the stage for future union negotiations, according to labour experts. “We’re basically entering a brand new phase of what we talk about in collective agreements, which includes workers’ autonomy over their time,” says Armine Yalnizyan, an economist and […]
The Public Service Alliance of Canada and the federal government have reached a tentative agreement for more than 120,000 workers, which includes new protections around remote work and wage increases. The tentative agreement, which ends a two-week strike, includes negotiated language that requires managers to assess remote work requests individually — not by group — and […]
An opinion piece on how certain aspects of the Quebec government’s rules and constraints on private drug plans affect pharmacy costs was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. 1. Sounding Board: Why do Quebec’s private drug plans pay higher pharmacy fees? 2. Custodial, maintenance workers at TMU striking over pension contribution increase 3. Half of Canadian benefits providers […]
Roughly 155,000 federal employees represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada are striking over remote working arrangements and wages. The union is seeking to maintain remote working arrangements for employees, noting the working arrangement has become a part of everyday life for many workers. “Our experience during [the coronavirus] pandemic has shown that public […]