MONTREAL - Some 4,400 Montreal blue-collar workers have overwhelmingly endorsed a tentative contract with the city.
Union members voted 95.4 per centin favour of the new agreement Saturday, after the union’s executive recommended the tentative deal, reached Oct. 11.
The agreement in principle was reached three months before the current contract expired and would last until Dec. 31, 2017.
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) presented the offer to its members in a general meeting at the Palais des congrès.
The contract includes salary hikes in line with cost of living increases and call for increased pension plan contributions from the workers.
"For the pension plan, it used to be a 70/30 split," said executive committee member Michael Applebaum. "The city of Montreal would have to contribute 70 per cent into the pension fund for the blue-collar workers and and the blue-collar workers put in 30 per cent. it is now a 55 - 45 split, and there will be major economies for the city of Montreal. It respects the capacity of our taxpayers to pay."
The new pension contribution plan could save some $50 million in the next three years.
Applebaum calls the new deal a "model" agreement and said he hopes other city unions will follow the lead of Montreal's blue-collar workers.
