Videotron’s 3,000 employees approved 88% of the initial agreement reached with the employer at the end of April regarding the renewal of their collective agreement.
In a statement released Sunday, the Canadian Confederation of Public Employees (CUPE) of the FTQ said the new contract “guarantees the industrial peace of the telecom giant in Quebec until 2025.”
Nick Mingyun, SEVL-CUPE 2815 President, said he is very happy with the result.
“With this new collective agreement, we have secured our jobs and protected our achievements,” said Nick Mingione.
The union said the seven-year contract offered a wage increase of more than 15% over that period, including two years retroactively.
“Other gains include that we agreed to telecommuting terms and negotiated a four-day workweek agreement for certain jobs,” said Martin LaRose, a counselor to CUPE.
3000 employees work in call centers, assembly, engineering or technologists.
According to the union, the resort to subcontracting was the “main knot” in discussions with the employer.
In addition to resorting to subcontracting, other points of contention persisted thereafter, affecting job protection, group insurance, and wages.
The previous collective agreement expired on December 31, 2018.
