24 May 2007

Technical staff at Montreal daily
vote 100% for 3-year deal

Montreal Newspaper Guild | CWA Canada Local 30111

The seven employees who work in the electronic data processing department at The Gazette in Montreal have voted 100 per cent in favour of ratifying a new collective agreement.

David Wilson, CWA Canada staff representative, says the tentative agreement was reached after only two bargaining sessions.

The three-year deal will see wages increase by 2.5 per cent this year (retroactive to March 3), 2.5 per cent next year and 3.0 per cent in the final year of the agreement.

Three technical service co-ordinators, however, will receive a 7.5-per-cent bump-up in the first year. Why? "Because they deserved it," says Wilson matter-of-factly.

He notes this wasn't a controversial collective agreement for the CanWest-owned newspaper and it was mostly a lot of cleanup in language.