More than three dozen retirement home workers in Orleans, Ottawa, Canada, ratified their first collective bargaining agreement.
The 40 members of IAM Local Lodge 1295 work as guest attendants, cooks, registered practical nurses and receptionists at the Belcourt Manor. Their new four-year agreement provides wage increases of two per cent each year, inclusion in the IAM Pension Plan, and creation of the new Guest Attendant Classification which provides a wage increase for half the workforce.
This is a whole new world for these members,” said IAM District Lodge 78 Business Representative Jim Snider. “The fact that they will now receive annual wage increases, representation at work, a pension plan and I know this may sound strange in the 21st century, but they now have a lunch room, all of these improvements to their workplace have made the members very happy.”
“This was the first set of negotiations for the bargaining committee of Lavinia McGowan and Elaine Levac,” continued Snider. “They did a terrific job looking out for the interests of the members.”
