Earlier they voted down two deals their negotiating team had recommended.
The Globe and Mail reports that the only change this time is one sentence requiring employers to provide training. The union believes that removes the incentive for the employers to contract out jobs, a key sticking point in the negotiations.
The new collective agreement provides for wage hikes of five per cent in each of the first two years, followed by increases of four per cent in each of the final two years, according to the memo of settlement. That works out to a compounded wage hike of 19.2 per cent over four years. As well, there is a signing bonus or “inflation adjustment allowance” of about $3,000 for a full-time worker.
By the end of the contract, the median wage will be about $165,000 a year.
While the workers were on strike, billions of dollars of goods piled up at the ports. Among agricultural products impacted were grains, canola and pork exports.
