Food processing members at Maple Leaf Foods build a better life – UFCW 832

Winnipeg – January 15, 2020 – Food processing workers at Maple Leaf Foods, proud members of UFCW Local 832, have achieved a new union contract that provides better wages, new personal days, and more.

At the contract ratification vote, the room was in cheers as UFCW 832 members working for Maple Leaf Foods voted overwhelmingly to ratify their new collective agreement.

“Our bargaining committee did an outstanding job during negotiations,” says Jeff Traeger, President of UFCW Local 832. “This new contract will directly address many of the issues that our members were concerned about in the plant and bring meaningful steps towards fixing the culture of the workplace.”

The new contract brings in many improvements, including:

  • Wage increases that are well above the rate of inflation;
  • An additional $500,000 to go towards the reclassification of jobs;
  • Over $1.4 million in new pension payments that will complete the repayment from the previous pension plan;
  • For the first time ever, workers at Maple Leaf will be able to bank their overtime to be used as personal days, and any unused days will be paid out at the end of the year. This is the first provision of its kind at any Maple Leaf plant in Canada; and
  • A new joint employment project where persons with disabilities will be hired and supported. This is also the first of its kind in the pork production industry.

The union represents 1,900 workers at Maple Leaf Foods, who work in the kill and cut operations at the plant.

UFCW Canada Local 832 is Manitoba’s largest private sector union, representing over 18,000 members in a wide variety of industries, including the retail food, health care, food processing, security, industrial, textile, and transportations sectors. To find out more about the outstanding work of UFCW 832, visit the Local Union's website.

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