6 ay önce

Canada's Unifor union ratifies labour deal with St. Lawrence Seaway

Canada's major labour union, Unifor, ratifies retroactive annual wage hikes starting from April 1, 2023, also securing a $2,000 signing bonus.

The Unifor union said members representing St. Lawrence Seaway workers in eastern Canada had ratified new collective agreements that would increase wages, days after a tentative deal ended a week-long strike on a key trade route.

The Unifor union, representing some 360 workers, voted to ratify annual wage increases of 5 percent, 4 percent and 4 percent, retroactive to April 1, 2023, along with a $2,000 signing bonus, it said in a statement.

The union on Sunday ended the strike that shut down a key North American trade route when it agreed to the tentative deal with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp covering engineering, maintenance and other worker groups in Ontario and Quebec provinces.

The St. Lawrence Seaway links the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean and is managed by the Canadian not-for-profit Seaway Corp along with the US Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

The walkout affected about 150 vessels over the one-week period and impeded the movement of grains and other commodities. About C$34 million ($24.74 million) in economic activity was being disrupted every day, according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.