TORONTO, June 12, 2016 /CNW/ - Unifor has reached a tentative agreement with VIA Rail, avoiding a work stoppage that could have begun as early as Monday morning. The new four-year tentative agreement was reached about an hour before the strike deadline of Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
"Unifor is dedicated to protecting good jobs for our members, and that's what this agreement accomplished," said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. "We're pleased that terms were reached without service interruption or inconvenience to passengers and our members."
The agreement covers Unifor National Council 4000 and Unifor Local 100 members, representing 1,968 VIA customer service, on-board service and maintenance staff.
"We have worked diligently to obtain a fair deal, in what continues to be very challenging sector," said Unifor National Rail Director Brian Stevens. "I'm proud of what has been achieved for our members through the hard work and dedication of our bargaining committees."
The tentative agreement enjoys the full support of the master bargaining committee. Details of the collective agreement will be released upon ratification. Ratification will take place over the next three weeks across the country.
VIA Rail Unifor workplace leadership will be reviewing the contents of the new agreement at a leadership meeting to take place later this week.
Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing more than 310,000 members.
SOURCE Unifor
please contact Unifor Communications National Representative, Kathleen O'Keefe at [email protected] or 416-896-3303 (cell)
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