Monday March 11, 2013
For Immediate Release
Arnprior, ON – The memberships of both IAM Local Lodge 1542 divisions (Office & Technical and Production & Maintenance) have ratified new collective agreements with Arnprior Aerospace, designed to enhance the security of lodge membership and address competitive issues.
“Past bargaining events were characterized as adversarial and unproductive in the end result,” said IAM Grand Lodge Representative Bill Shipman. This time around the parties agreed to enlist the assistance of Ontario Ministry of Labour professionals employed in the Dispute Resolutions Department. “Under the Ministry’s tutelage, a new bargaining structure was developed that can be best characterized as a modified version of traditional bargaining, or MTB” explained Shipman. “This new process was instrumental in allowing the parties to better identify the issues, focus on solutions and avoid detrimental confrontation. And it worked!”
Following a short training program put on by the Ministry, the parties spent seven days in direct bargaining which resulted in a Memorandum of Agreement on Thursday March 7, 2013 and ratification by the membership the following day.
The six-year agreement includes cash payments of $500.00 a year in the first four years in lieu of a General Wage Increase. This was instrumental in progressing toward a more competitive ‘wrap rate’ without concessions. There will be general wage increases of 1.5 per cent in the fifth year and 2 per cent in the sixth year respectively. The Defined Benefit Pension Plan was maintained along with all other benefits and entitlements.
“This new agreement was designed to assist us in becoming a more productive site in tier-2 aerospace, while protecting the wages and benefits we have worked so hard to build over the past decades,” explained Shipman. “It is also anticipated that our new process of joint problem solving will serve us well in future efforts to win additional work for our members as we strive to succeed in an extremely competitive industry.”
The membership includes 50 office and technical personnel and 352 production and maintenance personnel involved in design, procurement, production and maintenance of tier two aerospace components.
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For further information:
Bill Shipman – IAM Grand Lodge Representative
705—799-2889/705-7\875-7206
Bill Trbovich – IAM Director of Communications
416-386-1789 Ext #6331/416-735-9765