Moncton Local 'treads water'
with new 5-year contract
Moncton Typographical Union | CWA Canada
Local 30636
Unionized employees in the newsroom and pressroom at the Moncton Times & Transcript are about to sign a new five-year collective agreement with the Irving-owned daily.
Members of the Moncton Typographical Union recently voted 18-9 in favour of ratifying the contract, which features modest wage gains, an increase in the company's contributions to a group RRSP plan and adds a cash premium for many of the workers in the pressroom.
President Dwayne Tingley says the contract allows the Local's 31 members to "tread water."
"After about 10 or 12 years of take-backs and other cuts, we kept our head above water this time," Tingley says. "We didn't lose anything. There were no great gains, but we didn't lose any jobs or benefits or favourable contract language."
The agreement provides a 1.5-per-cent wage increase, retroactive to Oct. 1, 2010, and two per cent for each of the next four years.
The company will also increase its contribution to the group RRSP plan from four to five per cent, which employees will match.
The biggest gains were in the pressroom, where there are three tiers of workers. Those in the middle tier will now be paid top rate when they fill in for the highest tier during temporary vacancies (nights off, vacations). Those in the bottom tier will be given a five-per-cent premium when they fill in for someone in the middle tier.
The company also added two new page assemblers to the Local. These were workers previously out of the bargaining unit and the Local had filed a grievance.
The company has added two new positions, but has not filled them. The job of on-line editor is to be excluded from the bargaining unit, but media technician will be under the union's jurisdiction. The media technician is to be paid according to the scale for reporters.
During negotiations, the company said it intends to increase its on-line presence and changes will be coming quickly to newsroom operations.
After brief contract discussions in the fall of 2010, collective bargaining accelerated in the new year. Tingley praised the efforts of CWA Canada representative David Esposti, who was tenacious despite an ailing hip.
"He may be a little lame, but he's still got game," Tingley says.
