Tuesday May 14, 2013
For Immediate Release
Corner Brook, NFLD – Members of IAM Local Lodge 1567 has ratified a new collective agreement with Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, Kruger Industrial.
“This was the strangest set of negotiations that I have ever participated in,” said IAM Special Representative Rick Arsenault. “In 2009, all employees took a one time rollback of 10 per cent of their wages for a one year period to assist the company through a downturn in the paper industry. Although the contract had expired in June 2009, neither side had any desire to come back to the table until the industry corrected itself.”
When talks did resume, the employer asked for concessions amounting to a 35 per cent cut back in wages, benefits and pension because it claimed the market did not improve. The IAM and four other CEP union locals rejected the demands and filed for conciliation. “We stood our ground because we knew this mill couldn’t survive without our certified tradespeople,” said Arsenault.
In early May 2013, an agreement was reached at the eleventh hour averting a lock out or strike. The five year agreement which is retroactive to 2009 provides a 1.5 per cent wage increase retroactive to June 2012, and another 1.5 per cent wage increase effective of June 1, 2013.
The Union’s committee from the shop floor Ross Edison and Jerome Hale held strong and keep the members strong to avert the cutbacks the Company was seeking.
The 37 members consist of millwrights, welders, motor mechanics and Machinists.
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For further information:
Rick Arsenault – IAM Special Representative
506-351-0613/506-381-3988
Bill Trbovich – IAM Director of Communications
416-386-1789 ext#6331/416-735-9765