Maniwaki, Que. – April 5, 2018 – UFCW Canada Local 500 members working at the Metro Maniwaki supermarket in the Ottawa Valley have ratified a new collective agreement. The new seven-year contract will run through 2024.

As part of the new contract, the employer has agreed to create four new regular positions at the grocery store. Wages will increase by $1.25 per hour until 2020, and $1.50 per hour after that. Personal leave hours will rise from 48 hours to 50 in 2020, and then to 52 hours in 2022.  As well, the head packer’s job will be reclassified.

The agreement also maintains the $150 premium for safety shoes, and the employer will continue to reimburse 80 percent of dental care costs under the UFCW Quebec Dental Plan.  

“Maintaining employer contributions to the dental plan was vital, as it is one of the key attractions to our great union, and now covers over 51,000 members,” says Antonio Filato, the President of UFCW Canada Local 500. “This new contract also achieves multiple gains for the Metro members, and we are very satisfied with the outcome of these negotiations,” he adds.