Saskatchewan Wheat Pool office workers have a new collective agreement.
An offer presented by the company during mediation with federal negotiator Tom Dinan June 12 was actually rejected by a majority of the voting members, said Larry Hubich, bargaining spokesperson for the Grain Services Union.
However, the majority wasn’t large enough.
“They rejected it by 60 percent, but in accordance with the constitution that’s not a sufficient number of people to conduct a strike,” Hubich said.
The constitution says 75 percent must reject the offer.
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“We’re going to sign an agreement, even though the majority didn’t want it,” Hubich said.
The membership voted for one of two alternatives: To reject the company’s offer and authorize strike action, or to accept the offer and instruct the bargaining committee to sign an agreement.
Signing bonus
Highlights of the four-year deal saw office workers in Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Vancouver receive a $700 signing bonus and wage increases of 1.5 percent on Feb. 1, 1998 and the same percentage one year later.
The workers had been without a contract since Jan. 31, 1996.
They also gained improvements in dental benefits, life insurance and disability insurance.
“While we are happy to have the deal, we are disappointed with the results of the vote,” said Jacques Pelletier, of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool’s human resources division.
“We will be looking to improve the situation … . There is little we can do about the main issues of money and job security. We are in a growth cycle and that should help improve the future for jobs in the company though,” he said.
Maintenance services is the lone contract that remains outstanding in the pool’s core company bargaining group.
