The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 726, which represents the unionized staff working for the City of Estevan, has reached a new collective bargaining agreement with the city.
The pact was reached in late December and officially approved on Jan. 4, just days after the previous agreement expired.
The new CBA will expire on Jan. 31, 2018.
Glenys Baerg, who was the chair for the CUPE negotiating team, said there will be a six per cent wage increase over three years, with a 1.6 per cent jump this year, a two per cent hike for 2017 and a 2.4 per cent increase in 2018.
“We think it’s fair, because of the way the economy is right now,” Baerg told the Mercury.
The other notable change in the CBA is for employees going on maternity leave. Previously an employee had to go on employment insurance immediately after their maternity leave began, without any benefits.
But if the employee agrees to return to work for at least six months after the maternity leave ends, the city will pay up to 90 per cent of their wages for the first two weeks of the leave, while continuing to provide benefits.
Fifteen of the 22 CUPE members who voted on the deal were in favour. Majority support was needed for the CBA to be approved.
Baerg said the negotiations were “very amicable,” a sentiment echoed by Mayor Roy Ludwig, who chaired the city’s negotiating committee.
“We had good communications at the table, we were able to discuss all of the ongoing issues openly, and came to a collective agreement fairly quickly,” said Ludwig.
Three negotiating sessions were needed to reach a deal. Ludwig noted both sides were fairly close when discussions began.
Next week’s edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.