NORTHEAST TOWN—At a special meeting on May 3, the council for the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands approved a four-year contract with Unifor Local 31-X while the union members met in a separate meeting and voted to ratify that same contract.
“This was a great opportunity to show how effective collective bargaining is when both sides come to the table with the best interests of the membership and the community in mind,” said Mayor Al MacNevin. He further noted that, “This contract represents an opportunity to ensure our employees enjoy competitive wages and benefits in an environment where both employee retention and attraction are very difficult.”
On behalf of Unifor, national representative Jerry Logan stated that he is very pleased that the union negotiating team was able to negotiate a contract that protects the workers and provides for the needs of the members and their families.
Unifor Local 31-X represents both the municipality’s inside and outside workers. The new contract provides labour stability for the next four years which protects critical services such as water, sewer, road maintenance, garbage collection, recreation services and the general administration of the town.