Ratifications

Canada Catering Co.

Local 304 members employed by Canada Catering in Meaford ratified a new 3-year agreement providing guaranteed wage increases of 2.5% each year over the term, improved uniform allowance, enhanced scheduling provisions, and more orientation for new staff. Members also were able to protect their current sick time and health benefits.

“This was a unique round of negotiations given COVID,” says union bargaining committee member Christina Craig. Fellow bargaining committee member Jessica Bell agreed. “But through consistent dialogue with the employer, we achieved a good settlement.”

ParaMed Home Health Care

Local 304 members employed by ParaMed Home Health Care in Oshawa voted 87 percent in favour of a first agreement providing them with wage increases and numerous improvements to their working terms and conditions.

The 600 workers, employed as PSWs and home support workers (HSWs) joined Local 304 in September 2020. Prior to becoming unionized, over 60% of the PSWs working at ParaMed were making less than $19/hr., and the vast majority of employees hadn’t received annual increases in years. The wages for the PSW employees ranged from $16.50 to $19/hr. with no clear structure of how wage increases were being administered.

This first agreement provided quite a challenge for CLAC representatives given the current fiscal realities. The bargaining landscape for homecare in Ontario is particularly difficult with average increases ranging from 0.7% to 1%/yr. with very little other monetary gains. The pattern applies regardless of employer (ParaMed, VON, VHA, CarePartners) or union (ONA, UNIFOR, SEIU, CUPE, CLAC).

The problem is that there have been no funding increases for homecare from the Ontario Government in over five years. Despite this overwhelming pattern, Local 304 was able to achieve an industry-leading settlement for PSWs working at ParaMed.

The establishment of a wage grid means members will not only benefit from annual increases of 1%/yr., they will also receive increases as they earn seniority and progress up the wage grid. With the majority of members earning less than $19/hr., the practical effect is that the majority of members will progress two or three steps on the new wage grid over the term of the agreement. This progression, coupled with annual across-the-board increases, means that these members will receive increases ranging between 4.96% to 8% over contract’s term.

The agreement also provides improvements to paid sick days, evening and weekend premiums, increased mileage compensation, and paid travel time, along with improvements to bereavement leave and vacation entitlement.