Turgeon Héberville, Qué. – August 8, 2016 – UFCW Canada Local 501 members working at the Coopérative de services à domicile Lac-Saint-Jean Est in Turgeon Héberville, Québec have voted overwhelmingly in favour of their first collective agreement. The members work as kitchen employees at a senior’s home in the Lac-Saint-Jean area.

The new three-year contract provides a 5 percent wage increase retroactive to July 1, 2015, as well a 6 percent increase over the term of the contract, for a total salary increase of 11 percent. 

Here are some of the other highlights of the agreement:

• An increase in night and weekend premiums, which will rise from $0.75 to $1.30 during the term of the agreement;

• Access to the Quebec Workers’ Solidarity Fund;

• One additional personal leave day;  

• A pre-retirement clause;  

• The travel allowance for home visits will rise from $0.40 to $0.50 per kilometer;

• The premium for personal hygiene care will rise from $1.15 to $1.60; and

• The premium for delegated tasks will rise from $1.75 to $2.25.

“I would like to congratulate the bargaining committee for their fine work in negotiating this contract,” says Alain Lachaîne, President of UFCW Canada Local 501. “The first collective agreement for the Lac-Saint-Jean Est membersprovides better wages, premiums, and working conditions, and we should all be very proud of that,” he adds.