The City of Melfort has signed a new four-year contract with its employees that will see them get a one per cent wage increase in 2017, and a 2.5 per cent increase each year for 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Council voted to sign the collective agreement with the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 777 at their meeting Oct. 16.
“I think, based on the agreements we have seen that have been signed in recent times, it’s very fair to both the employees and the city,” said Rick Lang, Melfort’s mayor. “Based on what the city has allowed for remuneration, I think it’s very fair to both employees and the city and my understanding is that it was approved overwhelmingly, so obviously, they felt the same.”
Long-term workers will also see a five cent boost per hour for every five years they’ve worked with the city. In 2018, that will increase to 10 cents; 2019, 15 cents; and 2020, 20 cents.
A five-day pressing necessity leave for family emergencies like funerals or unexpected health crises has been replaced with a two day personal/family leave, to be taken from earned sick leave days.
“Essentially what this new two-day family leave allocation is an employee is entitled to take that off as personal family time and there are not any restrictions within as to what’s allowed to count as a personal family day,” Lang said. “With this new family leave, it just gives you so many more options as to what counts as acceptable.”
Employees have to get permission from their immediate supervisor before taking the leave.
The contract includes a joint job evaluation process.
“There’s been some concern, more from the union perspective than from a city perspective, that we need to look at the job classifications and re-evaluate them individually to see if they are still applicable because a lot of them were formulated some years ago,” Lang said.
The mayor said the process will help determine if job skills and requirements for certain jobs are still valid, if there’s a need for higher qualifications for some jobs and if there’s room for more variation of responsibility between jobs.
Also included in the contract is an increase in the swimsuit allowance for lifeguards, a requirement for boot allowances to be paid every 12 months instead of 18, and a requirement for the city to send union duties for all employees that qualify to be a Local 777 member instead of waiting for written authorization from them.
Past contracts have had a three-year term. That’s now being extended to four so that negotiations won’t happen during an election year nor in the middle of a council mandate.
