Grand Falls-Windsor, union ratify deal to end 14-week employee lockout
CBC
Unionized Town of Grand Falls-Windsor employees are heading back to work, after a new collective agreement was ratified late Monday night.
The deal was ratified by members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1349, which represents about 100 town workers, just after 11:30 p.m. Monday. The deal is in place retroactively from January to the end of 2025.
CUPE national representative Ed White said the deal has been ratified by the town to his knowledge, with more information expected Tuesday morning. He said all full-time employees should be back in place by Monday.
CBC News has contacted the town and Mayor Barry Manuel for comment.
"After you're locked out for 14 weeks, I don't know if anyone is really happy with an agreement. But I guess they're happy that the lockout is over and they're returning to work," White told CBC News on Tuesday.
The deal includes wage increases, a signing bonus and "improvements to call-in language that will allow greater work-life balance for casual workers," according to a media release.
Workers will also see changes to their medical plan, something White says was a sticking point during negotiations. Under the old plan, which expired in December, the town paid 100 per cent of workers' insurance premiums.
The new plan will create what White calls a rate stabilization fund, managed by the town with oversight by the union.
Starting in January, all full-time employees will pay 10 per cent of their premium to the town through payroll deductions, which will be funnelled into the fund.
"After two years, if there's no need to draw down any of the funds on that plan, those deductions will cease. If there is a need to draw down … the deductions will continue," he said. The union has also agreed with the town to form a committee to review the plan design and its benefits.
With the deal now in place, White said, he hopes the town and its workers will be able to begin to heal a divide that spilled into social media during the lockout.
"As far as we're concerned, this lockout is over. It's time to move on. Whatever bad feelings and that are left behind, that's exactly where they should be," he said.
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This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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