Toronto – June 26, 2014 – Over 2,000 UFCW Canada Local 206 members working at Swiss Chalet restaurants across Ontario recently ratified a new province-wide collective bargaining agreement. The Swiss Chalet employees work as hosts, servers, cooks, and dishwashers at one of the most popular restaurant chains in the country. 

As part of the new contract, the Swiss Chalet workers will receive a wage increase of 6.75 percent over the length of the agreement, as well as increased employer contributions to their health and welfare benefits. The new collective agreement also provides workers with twelve paid statutory holidays – which is unparalleled in the restaurant industry – and improved contract language that will empower employees with greater union representation rights.

"We are very pleased with the outcome of these negotiations, as the Swiss Chalet members overwhelmingly ratified their new collective agreement," says UFCW Canada Local 206 President Wayne Hanley. "This contract provides Swiss Chalet workers with better wages and benefits and more workplace rights, and could easily serve as a model for the restaurant industry," Brother Hanley adds.