Substantial Wage and Retirement Savings Increases for Henry Heyink Employees

Chatham, ON—Employees of Henry Heyink Construction Ltd., based in Chatham, unanimously ratified a three-year collective agreement providing them with substantial wage and retirement savings increases.

The 25 labourers and pipelayers are represented by Construction Workers Union, CLAC Local 53. The union has represented them since 2011.

The new contract provides a 10 percent increase to wages and 11 percent increase to retirement savings over the term. Other improvements include a $100 increase to the annual clothing and boot allowance and a $1 per hour premium increase for pipelayers. In addition, life insurance payout was doubled and vision coverage increased by $100 every two years.

“This was a solid round of bargaining that allowed us to get substantial increases,” says Alex Kuiper, CLAC representative. “The contract helps ensure that our members at Heyink are some of the top-paid labourers in the Chatham region and actually beat the majority of other union and nonunion workers in wages and benefits. We are pleased with the solid endorsement we received from the membership, with members voting unanimously in favour of ratifying the settlement.”

Henry Heyink Construction performs a broad range of general contracting and civil construction services throughout the Chatham-Kent region.